Protest for statehood: Kashmir MP Ruhullah to organise support of over 100 parliamentarians in Delhi

Srinagar, Jan 02: National Conference (NC) senior leader and Member Parliament, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi today said that he is ready to participate in protest in New Delhi seeking statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, besides will try to organize support from at least over 100 Hon’ble MPs.

Taking to micro-blogging site X (formerly Twitter), Aga Ruhullah said: “After 2019, my political stance has been crystal clear. At one of my earliest public gatherings in Budgam and then at other gatherings throughout Kashmir and also in my interviews post-abrogation, I told my people that our fight must be for the restoration of 370 and the dignity it embodies for the people of Jammu & Kashmir”.

“I’ve been informed about an urge and desire to protest for statehood in Delhi. I AM READY to participate in such a protest, and invite those prioritizing statehood to organize it. I will also try to organise support from at least more than 100 Hon’ble MPs. I believe for them there is no better time than January to organize it, when India's Constitution—the very document that enshrined our special status—was adopted,” he said on X.

“At the same time I ought to remind that the abrogation of Article 370 was a calculated act of humiliation, and a deep wound deliberately inflicted upon us. The subsequent demotion to a Union Territory was a further attempt to impress upon us the indignity of the abrogation”.

“The abrogation was a political statement, a declaration that our sacrifices mean nothing, and that our future is theirs to dictate. Given this betrayal, this calculated attempt to break our spirit and subjugate our will, I cannot, in good conscience, sidestep from the fight for our special status and settle for the hollow promise of mere statehood. Shouldn’t our voices first rise for our honor, our identity, and the autonomy we have long been denied?” he said on X.

“I think they should, and I will keep raising mine, louder each time. The Tree Remembers,” MP Ruhullah added.