Ruhullah gives Dec 20 notice to Govt over quota policy

Srinagar, Nov 25: Estranged National Conference (NC) Member of Parliament Aga Syed Ruhullah has asked the NC-led government to resolve the reservation issue before the winter session of the Parliament ends, saying he will join the quota protests if no action is taken.

The winter session will be held from December 1 to 19, with 15 working days.

Ruhullah has backed the demand of the general category candidates for a review of the existing reservation policy.

He also accused the J&K administration of ignoring the concerns of educated youth.

“What will it take for those in the government to understand the agony and hopelessness that our aspiring youths are facing? What will make them understand that this is suffocating an entire young generation and pushing them to the wall? Doesn't today’s case at the Vaishno Devi University about students with merit open their eyes? Don’t they feel the urgency to resolve this matter and give some relief to our youth?” Ruhullah said in a post on the microblogging site ‘X’.

Ruhullah had joined student protests outside Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s residence in December last year, seeking rationalisation of quota.

CM Omar later set up a cabinet sub-committee to look into the grievances raised by various sections of aspirants against the existing reservation policy in J&K, and submit a report within six months.

On October 16, CM Omar said the cabinet had accepted the report of the sub-committee, and the same was to be sent to the Lieutenant Governor for his approval.

“Last year, they said six months. Those six months have turned into a year. A few weeks ago, before the Budgam Assembly by-election, they said a few days without letting anyone know whether they have resolved the issue. Those few days are now turning into more than a month,” said Ruhullah, who did not campaign for the party candidate in the Budgam bypoll, which the NC lost.

He said that even a future resolution would not make up for the loss suffered by the job aspirants.

“Now, even if they solve this issue sometime in future, which I think is unlikely, what will compensate for the years they have already lost and the vacancies which are already gone,” he said.

Ruhullah said that if the government does not act by December 20, he will again join the protesters.

“I will sit with them again the way we did last December. And this time it will not be for a day,” he said.

In another post, Ruhullah hit out at the BJP for raising objections to Muslims outnumbering Hindus in MBBS admission at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU).

“So, now we’re told Muslim students shouldn’t study at Vaishno Devi University because it has Hindu donors, even though it’s a state-backed institution,” he said.

Ruhullah also questioned the government’s decision to appoint non-Muslims to Waqf boards while at the same time objecting to Muslim enrolment at the SMVDU.

“How does the BJP justify these two opposite positions? What principle is at work here? It is a very selective use of religion, one that always seems to run in only one direction,” he said.

The SMVDIME was sanctioned 50 MBBS seats this year.

However, admissions given to 42 students from a particular community in the maiden batch for the 2025-26 academic year have sparked a controversy, with right-wing groups questioning the process and demanding “minority institution” status for the newly-established institute.

However, officials claimed that admissions were given on merit as the institute had not been granted minority status and, therefore, no reservation criteria based on religion could be applied.