In Parliament, Aga Ruhullah seeks statehood, says voting by people in J&K nothing new

New Delhi, Feb 03: Pointing out that the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi didn’t mention plight of Muslims in his speech, National Conference Member Parliament Aga Ruhullah on Monday said that besides restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, New Delhi will have to return pre-1953 position to the region.

Speaking in response to the President’s address in the Parliament, Ruhullah, said, “ The LoP (Rahul Gandhi) spoke about his AI (Artificial Intelligence (AI) vision, he included OBCs, backward classes but he forgot Muslims. Are Muslims only meant to be frightened by the BJP for votes? I want to make it clear that Muslims are not afraid of anyone.”

He asserted that merely restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood was not enough, adding, “Not just Article 370, but the pre-1953 status must be restored. Many people have pinned their hopes on the restoration of statehood, but true justice will only be done when the region’s autonomy is reinstated.”

Ruhullah also criticized the government for ‘misleading’ people regarding the abrogation of Article 370, stating that parliamentary and assembly elections were held even when Article 370 was in force. “It is strange how people across the nation are being fooled. Elections were always held before, but Article 370 was removed through an illegitimate process. People have responded by participating in the elections, but what have been the consequences of its removal? Article 370 actually benefited Jammu and Kashmir,” he argued.

Referring to statistical data, Ruhullah highlighted that when Article 370 was in force, Jammu and Kashmir was ranked sixth in the Human Development Index (HDI) with a score of 0.712, surpassing many BJP-ruled states such as Haryana (0.702), Uttar Pradesh (0.596), Madhya Pradesh (0.606), and Gujarat (0.677). He further compared poverty rates and key social indicators across states, emphasizing that before the abrogation of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir had a higher life expectancy rate (73.5 years) compared to Gujarat (68 years) and a higher gross enrollment ratio in higher education (30.9%) compared to Gujarat (20.4%), Uttar Pradesh (28.5%), and Bihar (14%). —(KNO)