Srinagar: Member Parliament from Srinagar Lok Sabha seat and senior leader National Conference (NC), Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi said on Thursday that struggle for the return of Article 370 and other rights, is not a ladder to chair for him, rather it is his “belief and conviction”.
Replying to PDP youth leader and MLA Pulwama Waheed-ur-Rehman Para over raising critical issues including restoration of Article 370, ban on liquor sale in J&K, misuse of UAPA, and reservation bill, the MP Ruhullah said that his struggle for the return of Article 370 and other rights is not motivated by any personal pecuniary or political gains.
Taking to micro-blogging site X, Ruhullah said: “The struggle for the return of our rights and dignity (Article 370) is not a ladder to chair for me, it is my belief and conviction. So, more than theatrics, it is sentiment, emotion, expression and pragmatic approach what I involve in my struggle for it.”
Replying point-wise, he said: “Do you want me to commit a mistake by getting the Resolution for 370 rejected by the Parliament where the same BJP which abrogated it is in majority? And then the history says that the parliament resolved against the Art 370?”
“I introduced the liquor bill keeping in mind that the BJP has declared Gujarat a dry state, therefore there is a slight chance of opening the debate and getting the support for the same in J&K. And I also started a conversation with the fellow parliamentarians from other parties.”
Ruhullah continued: “In terms of a Bill for the restoration of art 370, I don’t see BJP letting that bill be passed. And once again do you want a bill for article 370 voted out in Parliament? As far the “opening of dialogue” is concerned, I started that inside the parliament even without introducing a bill.”
He added, “I submitted a stared question in the parliament asking the revocation of not only UAPA but also AFSFA. That was not listed in the business. So, keep some patience. I have only had one working session of parliament till now. There is a lot to come. By the way, it is in a way too harsh to expect me to clear the mess created by the decision of 2014/15 in one session of Parliament”.
“I did not protest outside the parliament, in fact talked about it inside the parliament where it matters the most. I took them on inside the parliament. Now, since my party has formed the govt in J&K, I expect a collective and result oriented effort on this with all my colleagues. I understood the matter before my election, committed myself to it during the election and stood by my commitment after being elected to the Parliament. Also when assembly elections were announced, I took this matter to my party and it gracefully agreed to it and made it the part of the manifesto. Now, after being elected to the assembly, I am sure my party is as committed to it as it was before. I have no confusion about it. I have never tweeted (X) and then deleted my statement about it. By the way, I missed your opinion about the reservation during the elections. What was it during the elections?”
