Srinagar, October 20: National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Tuesday said Kashmir had been polarised rather than normalised since 2019, alleging that Kashmiris faced hostility both within Jammu and Kashmir and in other parts of the country.
Commenting on attacks on Kashmir-based buses and people outside the Union Territory, Ruhullah said, “Kashmir has been polarised instead of being normalised, and I have been saying this from 2019 until now.”
He alleged that Kashmiris were increasingly treated as suspects and held the BJP responsible for the hostile environment.
“The relationship between this state and the Union was not normalised in 2019. It was made hostile, and the responsibility for that hostility lies with the BJP,” he said.
Ruhullah also expressed disappointment with the Jammu and Kashmir government, saying it had failed to meet people’s expectations on both the political agenda and governance after two years in office.
“People in Jammu and Kashmir have been disappointed, unfortunately. They should not have been,” he said.
Questioning the government’s record on Article 370, employment, reservation, electricity, students’ issues and prisoners, he asked, “On which parameter can we say that the government has delivered anything that we can be proud of?”
Referring to former chief minister Farooq Abdullah’s reported remarks that the abrogation of Article 370 was wrong, Ruhullah said the focus should be on concrete steps to reverse the decision.
“Everyone knows that the abrogation was wrong. You know it, I know it, and most people in India know it,” he said. “The question is: what are we doing to reverse that decision?”
On protests seeking accountability from the Election Commission, Ruhullah described the demonstrations as genuine and said they could signal a revival of democratic resistance.
“It is a genuine protest, and it seems democracy may be starting to breathe again after being suppressed over the past 10 to 12 years,” he said.
