Srinagar, Apr 26 : The Member of Parliament from Srinagar, Syed Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, on Sunday said the people of Jammu and Kashmir did not vote for statehood only otherwise, they would have voted for the BJP, asserting that the restoration of constitutional rights was the people’s mandate.
Speaking to news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS), the Srinagar MP said,
“If the people of J&K wanted to vote for statehood, they should have voted for the BJP. The people voted for the restoration of constitutional rights, including Article 370.”
He said, “We promised the people that we would fight for their constitutional rights. Unfortunately, the government has stopped fighting. That is why people are angry, and I am angry too.”
Referring to the August 5, 2019 abrogation of Article 370, which had granted special status to the erstwhile state, MP Mehdi said the decision was taken by MPs from four to five Hindi heartland states.
“One day, we woke up and realized we had been disenfranchised. Our statehood was taken away. South India fears the same will happen to them,” he claimed.
Ruhullah Mehdi also criticised the current dispensation for not raising issues like business rules and constitutional guarantees, saying the mandate of the people had been compromised.
“They are not fighting for business rules. They are not fighting for statehood. They are not fighting for the constitutional guarantees of the people of J&K. This is unfair to the mandate and trust of the people,” he said.
The MP further alleged that the government attempted “gerrymandering” in the name of the women’s reservation bill and delimitation, similar to what was done in J&K after 2019.
“They wanted to redraw boundaries on communal lines to weaken minority representation electorally,” he added. (KNS)
