NC’s fight is for restoring constitutional guarantees, not just statehood: Ruhullah

National Conference Lok Sabha MP Aga Ruhullah on Saturday asserted that the party’s fight is not merely for the restoration of statehood but for reclaiming the constitutional guarantees that existed before the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

Advertisement

“I want to remind you that our fight is not for statehood. Our fight is much bigger. It is for the constitutional guarantees that were snatched from us in 2019,” Ruhullah told reporters in Srinagar.

The Srinagar MP reiterated that the National Conference’s primary objective is to reverse the decisions made on August 5, 2019, when the Central Government abrogated Article 370 and reorganised the erstwhile state into two Union Territories—Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

“The BJP has stated in its manifesto and in Parliament that statehood will be restored. Even their allied teams in Jammu and Kashmir claim they are fighting for statehood. But the NC’s fight is not for statehood,” Ruhullah said.

“Our fight is for the return of that constitutional guarantee, for the return of Article 370, for the return of the status that was granted to us by the Indian Constitution at the time of accession,” he emphasised. “Our struggle is to reverse the decisions taken on August 5, 2019.”

On the ongoing reservation issue, Ruhullah said he was awaiting the report currently under review by the J&K Law Department. “I am waiting, and the students are waiting too. I had hoped the report would be returned this week. The longer it is delayed, the more it will impact the students. The sooner it is returned and implemented, the better it will be for them,” he said.

The NC leader also criticised the BJP for allegedly using the permission granted for the Muharram procession in Srinagar for political propaganda.

“They used the procession for their propaganda. You must have seen how Union Home Minister Amit Shah raised this issue in Parliament and falsely claimed that Muharram processions were never allowed in Kashmir. It was the National Conference that permitted them,” Ruhullah said.

He further alleged that Amit Shah attempted to create divisions between Shia and Sunni communities by claiming that Kashmir was historically under Sunni administration. “If the BJP truly believed in religious freedom, then why does the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar remain closed most of the time?” he asked.