Srinagar, Aug 28: Srinagar MP and JKNC leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Friday wrote a letter to party president Dr Farooq Abdullah and questioned party’s leadership position on the restoration of Article 370, which was taken away by New Delhi on August 05, 2019. He said the demand for restoration of constitutional guarantees cannot be abandoned merely in favour of statehood.
In a letter dated August 28, 2026, addressed to the party president, Mehdi referred to remarks made during a press statement on August 25 in which the leadership had questioned how long people would “be a slave” and urged them to stand on their feet.
Mehdi said those remarks resonated with the frustration felt by many in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly over the perception that the region’s demands were being pursued from a position of supplication before the BJP-led government at the Centre.
However, he questioned why the same political position was being criticised when he raised similar issues.
“I refuse to believe that your statement is merely ‘hollow posturing’ for ‘public consumption’, while your politics reflects something entirely different,” Mehdi said in the letter, adding that such a situation would be personally disappointing to him. Questions “begging” remark on Article 370
Referring to the statement that “you want 370, but you beg from Delhi,” Mehdi argued that the demand for Article 370 restoration was not an unreasonable political position.
He pointed out that restoration of Article 370 had also featured in the BJP’s 2024 Assembly election manifesto, while the Supreme Court had recognised the constitutional history surrounding the provision.
According to Mehdi, the JKNC’s position should therefore not be treated as fundamentally different from the position it had itself taken earlier.
He further argued that accepting statehood as the outer limit of Jammu and Kashmir’s political aspirations could amount to legitimising and normalising what he described as the constitutional changes made in August 2019
Mehdi said the party had come to power with commitments relating to the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A, but was now increasingly presenting statehood as the principal political objective.
He referred to the argument that “the very regime which abrogated Article 370 will never restore it,” and questioned whether such an argument was sufficient justification for abandoning the larger demand.
He said the issue was not simply about political positioning but concerned the dignity, constitutional guarantees and rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mehdi also raised broader concerns over employment opportunities, land, natural resources, religious rights, traditions, language and environmental protection.
He noted that a large proportion of Jammu and Kashmir’s population is young and said uncertainty over employment and opportunities was becoming a major concern.
“Our job as elected representatives is to fight this constant degradation and dehumanisation — and not to adjust our aspirations to what the BJP is willing to concede,” Mehdi said.
The Srinagar MP said elected representatives had a responsibility to ensure that the political and constitutional changes of August 2019 did not become accepted as the “new political normal.”
He also argued that restoration of statehood should not be presented as an adequate substitute for the constitutional provisions and protections that were altered in 2019.
Mehdi stressed the need to continue seeking constitutional guarantees for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, including protections concerning their land, resources, culture and traditions.
He questioned how his position on these matters could be considered objectionable, particularly within the JKNC.
In another pointed reference, Mehdi reminded the party leadership that it had previously served as Chief Minister when the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed the Autonomy Resolution.
He questioned why raising the issue of constitutional guarantees had now become so controversial.
“What has changed — the aspirations of our people, or the JKNC’s willingness to stand up for them?” he asked.
Mehdi said he was raising these questions not out of disrespect but because he remembered the party leadership’s earlier political position and its role in seeking greater constitutional autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir.
The Srinagar MP said there were “many more questions” that could be raised but that, for the time being, he would await a response from the party leadership.
He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir also had a right to know what the JKNC truly stood for on the question of constitutional guarantees and the political future of the region.
Mehdi further stated that his resignation from the party would come and that he would have resigned even without being asked to do so, but insisted that accountability must precede his departure.
The letter also addressed what Mehdi described as a “disrespectful attack” made against him while demanding his resignation, indicating that the disagreement had developed beyond a policy dispute into a wider political confrontation within the party.
The letter highlights growing differences over whether the restoration of statehood should remain the principal immediate objective of Jammu and Kashmir’s political leadership or whether demands for the restoration of Article 370 and broader constitutional safeguards should continue to remain central to the JKNC’s political agenda.
