Small thinking: Ruhullah hits back at CM Omar’s ‘political suicide’ remark

Srinagar, Nov 16: National Conference (NC) Member of Parliament from Srinagar-Budgam, Aga Syed Ruhullah, on Sunday rebutted Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s recent remark that he had committed “political suicide” by refusing to campaign during the Budgam bypoll.

Rejecting the criticism outright, Ruhullah said he had no desire to become an MLA and no intention of joining the Union Territory Assembly, stressing that his politics was centred on principles, people’s rights, and accountability, not positions of power.

Addressing reporters and party workers at his Budgam residence after returning from Germany, Ruhullah said the Chief Minister’s comment revealed a “smallness of thinking.”

“I am not worried about becoming an MLA. His concern is only about how and when to become an MLA. My fight is not about power or Assembly seats,” he said.

Ruhullah clarified that his silence during the Budgam bypoll campaign was not a political signal against CM Omar.

Instead, it stemmed from a principled refusal to seek or endorse any power “that goes against the people.”

He said the NC leadership had failed to honour the promises it made during the 2024 Assembly elections, breaking the trust of the voters who had placed their hope in the party.

Ruhullah launched a scathing critique of the party’s 40 MLAs who, he said, “roamed every lane and bylane of Budgam” during the bypoll campaign, using “money, power, and arrogance” despite never having visited these areas previously.

“Nor will they return,” he said, accusing the party’s leadership of top-down, disconnected politics.

Ruhullah recounted how, during last year’s Assembly election campaign, the same MLAs and leaders had pressed him to campaign across Kashmir.

“They did not give me even five minutes of rest,” he said.

“They promised me they would honour every commitment made before the people. I told them that if they kept their promises, the voters themselves would stand with them,” Ruhullah said.

He said their failure to uphold those commitments had pushed him to reassess his own role and responsibilities within the party.

Ruhullah said the mandate of 2024 and the formation of the current government had initially given him hope that his parliamentary fight for Jammu and Kashmir’s political, religious, and social rights would be strengthened.

“But they betrayed the people,” he said, adding that the government had failed to uphold the dignity and aspirations of Kashmiris.

Reacting firmly to CM Omar’s “political suicide” remark, Ruhullah asked why the Chief Minister continued to focus on Assembly seats when the core political, religious, and social rights of the people were “being crushed.”

“Our struggle should have been for the protection of these rights. Instead, they are thinking about how to become an MLA. Their thinking should rise to the level of the promises they made,” he said.

On posters of him that appeared during PDP celebrations after Aga Muntazir’s victory in Budgam, Ruhullah dismissed any suggestion of his involvement.

“The people acted on their own. They are thoughtful and aware. Their decision should not be discredited for someone’s political convenience,” he said.

Ruhullah reiterated that he neither supported nor opposed any party during the bypoll and had told people plainly that he would not campaign under the present circumstances.

“The decision was theirs and they made it,” he said.

Ruhullah also addressed the recent terror incidents, including the Delhi attack and the Nowgam Police Station blast in Srinagar.

Expressing solidarity with the families of the victims, he said Kashmiris understood the pain of such tragedies because they had lived through similar experiences.

Ruhullah accused the BJP-led central government of failing to prevent repeated terror attacks over the last 11 years.

“Instead of being questioned, this government questions Muslims and Kashmiris. These incidents are turned into a political war. When will this government be held accountable?” he said.

Ruhullah said the responsibility lay with “political, administrative, and security officials” whose duty is to protect people’s lives.

“If anyone should have resigned, it is those officials from political to administrative, Police to security grid, whose responsibility is our safety,” he said.

In a pointed message to his own party, Ruhullah urged the NC leadership to conduct deep introspection about the past year.

He said the party must acknowledge the “mistakes” made during the Assembly elections and return to a disciplined, principled political path.

“There is still time. Understand what the people are saying. Come back to the right way. If the party fails to correct its course, I will not hesitate to speak openly,” Ruhullah said.

He reiterated that the struggle for Jammu and Kashmir was not about winning MLA seats or positions of power but about restoring the political, social, and religious rights that the people had been denied.

“My fight is bigger than Assembly or Parliament. It is for the dignity and rights of our people,” he said.