Independent candidates wittingly or unwittingly helping BJP’s cause in J&K: MP Ruhullah

Srinagar, Sep 27: Member Parliament from central Kashmir Srinagar Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Friday said that the independent candidates are ‘knowingly’ or ‘unknowingly’ helping the cause of BJP in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said the ongoing Assembly elections are different as these are happening after the decisions taken on August 05, 2019.

Ruhullah, who was speaking to The Federal, said, “Today’s elections are very different, and are happening after decisions taken on August 05, 2019 when status of this region and its constitutional guarantee under Article 370 was abrogated, without the consent and concurrence of the people of Jammu & Kashmir”.

He said, “This election is to the institution which would either legitimize those decisions, or give dissent against the pronouncements expressed on August 05, 2019. So it is very significant in those terms for the people of J&K to elect those people who would express actual sentiment, and that is the people of J&K do not subscribe decisions taken on August 05, 2019, and we do not accept degraded status that where we feel we are second class citizens of the country,” Ruhullah said.

To a query, he said that NC has realized its mistakes and has come to the point to represent the actual sentiment of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.

When asked about mushroom growth of independents contesting elections in J&K, the NC leader Aga Ruhullah said, “Independents knowingly or unknowingly are helping the cause of BJP in J&K. As number of candidates are contesting elections, NC want to stand for their people”.

On being asked about what will happen by just passing a resolution from Legislative Assembly when its domain and power have been curtailed, he said “Resolution is a way of expression, though it is not a binding. This explicit that people of J&K didn’t endorse decisions taken on August 05, 2019. The return of rights and dignity including Article 370 will come back through a process. We will have to go through a struggle. And reclaiming the space is the first step of that process. We will reclaim it democratically. This is the space which BJP has occupied”.

About war of words between NC and PDP in the ongoing Assembly elections, and no existence of PAGD, Ruhullah said that he tried a lot to keep the union intact. “The atmosphere that was needed to be provided from other side (PDP) was not provided. The atmosphere went out of hands. PAGD was an effort to achieve certain objective. But unfortunately, that objective has been forgotten, and electoral gains have taken priority,” MP Ruhullah added.