NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference’s estranged MP from Srinagar Aga Ruhullah Mehdi on Friday said he will resign from Parliament, accusing party chief Farooq Abdullah and the NC leadership of abandoning the fight for restoration of Article 370, despite securing a mandate on the issue in the 2024 Assembly elections.In a two-page letter to Abdullah, Mehdi sought answers over the party’s change in its position on Article 370. His remarks came after Abdullah asked him to seek a fresh mandate for opposing the party line.Referring to Abdullah’s recent statement urging Kashmiris to become self-reliant instead of seeking economic concessions from the Centre, Mehdi said the remarks reflected his own frustration with being expected to adopt a “posture of supplication” before the BJP.He questioned why the party leadership objected when he raised similar concerns over 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, arguing that the NC’s current position had become indistinguishable from that of BJP.The letter came amid reports that Mehdi is likely to resign from the Lok Sabha on November 3, the death anniversary of his father Aga Syed Mehdi, who was assassinated in an IED blast on November 3, 2000.Mehdi warned that treating statehood as the limit of political aspirations could legitimise the constitutional changes made in August 2019 and weaken protections for Jammu and Kashmir’s land, culture and environment.He also questioned NC’s decision to move away from its 2024 assembly election 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?” he asked.“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 added.Pointing out that nearly 65 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir’s population is young, Mehdi said their future was “increasingly uncertain” due to a 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 said elected representatives must fight “this constant degradation and dehumanisation” instead of limiting public aspirations to what the BJP was 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.
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“Rest assured, the resignation will come. It would have come even without you asking, but before that must come accountability,” he added.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.
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