Examiner Bureau | Budgam:
National Conference (NC) Member of Parliament Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Tuesday said the political discourse on Jammu and Kashmir should not be limited to the demand for restoration of statehood, asserting that the struggle for the region’s constitutional rights and guarantees under Article 370 must remain central.
Speaking to reporters in Budgam, Ruhullah said he had already made his position clear and did not wish to elaborate further.
“What I have decided, I have already spoken about it. I do not want to add anything further on that,” he said.
The Srinagar MP said the responsibility of elected representatives extends beyond seeking the restoration of statehood.
“Our responsibility is not just to fight for statehood. People have trusted us to fight for the constitutional rights and guarantees that were given to us under Article 370,” he said.
Ruhullah alleged that the BJP was attempting to confine the political debate to the issue of statehood while sidelining broader constitutional concerns.
“The BJP wants to talk only about statehood and normalise the status quo. Through this, the status quo is being normalised,” he said.
He further argued that limiting the discourse to statehood alone could result in people overlooking other constitutional and political issues affecting Jammu and Kashmir.
“The BJP’s agenda is to make people forget everything else and focus only on statehood. Over the last 70–80 years, whatever was taken away from us, we ultimately accepted the status quo and normalised it. We cannot repeat that mistake,” Ruhullah said.
The remarks come amid continuing political debate over the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and the demand by several political parties for the restoration of constitutional safeguards that existed prior to the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
