Srinagar, Dec 23: Aga Ruhullah, Member of Parliament from Srinagar and National Conference leader, spearheaded a protest outside Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s residence today, demanding a review of Jammu and Kashmir’s reservation policy, which has been accused of discriminating against open merit category students.
PDP leaders, including Waheed ur Rehman Parra and Iltija Mufti, joined the demonstration in support. The protest began at Burn Hall School and concluded at the CM’s residence, with Ruhullah calling for a fairer reservation policy for the region.
Earlier, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq expressed his support for the protest, stating he would participate if permitted by the authorities. The protest reflects growing calls from various student groups, political parties, and leaders to repeal the reservation policy.
Introduced by the lieutenant governor-led administration ahead of the early assembly elections, the policy has reduced the general category’s quota to 40%, increasing the reservation for other categories to 60%.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, citing the ongoing cold wave, canceled his Jammu schedule. He assured protesting students and aspirants that the reservation policy would be reviewed.
The Centre’s recent inclusion of new communities in the OBC category and the Pahari community in the Scheduled Tribe list has further reduced the share for open merit students, who now make up around 40%. Critics argue that the Supreme Court’s 1992 ruling restricts reservations to 50%, and going beyond this would violate constitutional principles of equal access.
