Kashmir Impulse Desk
Srinagar, Oct 04
National Conference (NC) MP Aga Ruhullah on Sunday accused his party’s government in Jammu and Kashmir of reducing the demand for restoration of constitutional rights to a campaign for statehood.
Speaking at the fifth Halla Bolle conclave in Srinagar, the Srinagar MP said the NC’s 2024 Assembly mandate required it to pursue restoration of rights removed after August 2019.
He said the party had been elected with a mandate to fight for Jammu and Kashmir’s political identity and constitutional rights.
Ruhullah criticised a recent Assembly resolution seeking the restoration of full statehood, saying it had diluted an earlier demand for restoration of special status.
“They diluted their own resolution,” he said.
The MP said reducing the political objective to statehood amounted to “shifting the goalposts” and warned that accepting statehood without restoring wider rights could damage the NC’s credibility.
He said the party needed to approach political groups across India and develop a broader campaign for constitutional change.
Ruhullah questioned whether the NC had held sufficient discussions with opposition parties, including Congress, the DMK, Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress.
He said speeches alone would not change the situation and called for sustained lobbying, public mobilisation and efforts to build support in Parliament.
Ruhullah also said the National Conference should learn from the organisational discipline of the RSS, while stressing that he had major ideological differences with it.
He said the BJP-led central government would be unlikely to restore statehood without sustained political pressure.
Ruhullah warned that failure to address public aspirations could eventually cost the National Conference electoral support.
“It was this very public that brought the NC to 40 or 42 seats,” he said, referring to the party’s performance in the 2024 Assembly election.
