Ruhullah hits back at Omar Abdullah; says Kashmir faces 'existential crisis'
Srinagar, Oct 27: National Conference, MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Monday fired back at Omar Abdullah, saying there is “no time to fight a personal war” and insisting the focus must remain on what he called an existential crisis in Kashmir.
In a sharply worded response, Mehdi said the region is facing far graver problems than intra-party rivalries. “Kashmir is fighting an existential crisis right now,” he said, adding that “thousands of our youth are locked up in jails.” Pointing to what he described as the unanswered plight of detainees, Mehdi asked: “Do they know the address of those thousands of youth who are still in jail? Without trials.”
Mehdi also took aim at what he called symbolic gestures by the NC leadership, accusing Omar Abdullah of offering Kashmiri shawls to BJP leaders.
Rejecting efforts to make the dispute personal, he said his own identity was irrelevant. “Rohullah is not a person. I have no importance… I have no status,” he said. “There is no importance of Ruhullah's identity. There is no importance of anyone else's identity. The importance is of that hope, that agenda, that responsibility, that mandate which the people have given us.”
Mehdi repeatedly challenged the National Conference to account for promises made to the electorate, including commitments on jobs and protections for culture and religion. “The fight of 370 is the fight of our existence. It is the promise of the National Conference in the last election,” he said. “In 2024, it was promised that in 5 years, we will give 100,000 jobs. Can someone give me that address? The 20,000 jobs that have been given in the last year — can you tell me that address?”
He also demanded answers over what he described as “attacks on our religious beliefs, on our cultural identity,” asking where the party’s fight on those fronts could be seen. “What was the fight against those attacks? Can you tell me its address?”
Mehdi concluded by saying he would not shy away from a personal battle if forced to, but that such egos were secondary to the larger crisis. “If someone wants to make it an ego issue, I will fight on that level too. But my identity has no importance… I don't care,” he said.
The exchange comes amid heightened tensions in the Valley and renewed public scrutiny of political pledges; Mehdi framed his rebuttal as a call to return to promises and to place detainees and constitutional issues at the centre of political debate.
