Ruhullah Mehdi challenges NC leadership on Article 370; likely to resign on November 3
Srinagar, Aug 28: Amid reports suggesting that his formal resignation could come on November 3, estranged National Conference Lok Sabha MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Friday said he will resign from Parliament but demanded answers on the party’s shift in stand on Article 370 before stepping down.
In a two-page letter to party president Farooq Abdullah, who had asked him to seek a fresh mandate for opposing the party line, Mehdi asserted that his resignation would come “even without you asking, but before that must come accountability”.
Taking to X, Mehdi said he has written a letter to his party president in response to the latter’s public demand for his resignation.
“Awaiting his response to the questions I have asked in the letter,” Mehdi said in the post.
Referencing Abdullah’s recent press statement urging Kashmiris to be self-reliant rather than seeking economic concessions from the Centre, Mehdi said that those words resonated deeply with him, capturing the frustration of being expected to assume a “posture of supplication” before the BJP.
However, the Shia leader questioned why the party leadership objected when he raised the very same concerns about Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional rights.
“The uncomfortable truth is that we are not even ‘begging’ for Article 370; we are ‘begging’ for statehood – a right the Supreme Court itself has recognised,” Mehdi said in his two-page letter, arguing that NC’s current position has become indistinguishable from that of the BJP.
The letter comes at a time when reports suggest that the Srinagar MP is likely to resign from the Lok Sabha on November 3, coinciding with the death anniversary of his father Aga Syed Mehdi, who was assassinated by terrorists in an IED blast on November 3, 2000.
Mehdi warned that accepting statehood as the outer limit of political aspirations risks legitimising the constitutional changes of August 2019 and surrendering essential protections for the region’s land, culture, and fragile environment.
Questioning the party’s core narrative, Mehdi pointed out that the NC fought and won the 2024 Assembly elections on the promise of restoring Articles 370 and 35A.
“Today, we conveniently argue that the very regime which abrogated Article 370 will never restore it… That would have been a fair argument. But the BJP was also in power when we drafted our 2024 manifesto. So, why did we include the restoration of Article 370 in our manifesto?
“Were we making promises we knew we could not keep or perhaps never truly intended to keep? Did we invoke the wound inflicted on the people of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 merely to derive political mileage, only to conveniently forget our promises after government formation?” he asked.
Mehdi argued if that is the case, then this is not merely a political “misjudgement”, it is a “sin”, a “brazen moral failure” of deliberately misleading an entire population that has already endured decades of suffering and voted for the party with hope, trust and the expectation that it would honour its word.
Pointing out that nearly 65 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir’s population is young, Mehdi said their future is “increasingly uncertain” due to lack of jobs and opportunities.
“Our land is up for grabs. Our resources benefit everybody but us. Our religious rights, traditions, and language face constant pressure. Our environment is being ravaged by illegal deforestation, mining, and construction in ecologically fragile zones,” the Srinagar MP said.
He asserted that the duty of elected representatives is to combat “this constant degradation and dehumanisation” rather than trim public aspirations to match what the BJP is willing to concede.
“It is to ensure that the extraordinary and deeply consequential events of August 2019 do not become the new political normal and to recognise that restoration of statehood cannot be treated as an adequate substitute for what was taken away,” Mehdi said.
Questioning why his political stance should be deemed objectionable by anyone from J-K, “let alone a member of the JKNC”, Mehdi asked Abdullah to recall his own leadership tenure.
“I do not ask these questions out of disrespect. I ask them because I remember that you were the hon’ble chief minister of the very Assembly that passed the Autonomy Resolution. That, too, must have required courage. Why, then, has the mere mention of constitutional guarantees for Jammu and Kashmir now become so offensive that you felt compelled to publicly demand my resignation?” he said.
In July 2000, the then government led by Abdullah had passed a resolution in the then state Assembly calling for greater autonomy to the state.
“What has changed – the aspirations of our people, or the JKNC’s willingness to stand up for them? There are many more questions. But for now, I will await your response to these and so will the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who have a right to know what the JKNC truly stands for,” Mehdi said. (PTI)
Press Trust of India (PTI) is India’s premier news agency.
