Srinagar 

Muffled up in several layers of clothing, hundreds of students and job aspirants on Monday gathered outside Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s residence at the posh Gukar road to press for the rationalisation of the reservation policy. 

The protest stood out as a rare event with Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, the sitting Lok Sabha member from the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, leading the demonstration.

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leaders Iltija Mufti, Waheedu ur Rehman Parra and leaders from Engineer Rashid led Awami Itehad Party also joined the protest amidst the biting cold. 

“I would like to make it clear that we are not against the reservation of any marginalised community that has been facing challenges for decades. If reservation serves as a means for their upliftment, we fully support it,” Mehdi said while addressing the protesters. 

He, however, said that extending reservation to a point where it becomes irrational and affects the general category amounts to injustice. 

Earlier, Mehdi in a post on X asked the open merit candidates to wait till December 22 to give the elected government time to address the issue and if the reservation policy was not rationalised, he would join the protest outside the CM’s residence.

Mehdi told protesters that their demand was for the rationalisation of the quota. “Reservation should be based on the proportion of population”, he added. 

Amidst the protests, a student delegation led by Mehdi met the Chief Minister and put forth their demands. 

Later, Mehdi told reporters that the CM had given them  six months time to resolve the issue. 

There has been a growing discontent among the students and job seekers regarding the new reservation policy. The policy rolled out by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha earlier this year enhanced the quota for reserved categories up to 60 per cent in jobs and admissions. 

Sinha effected the changes by making amendments to the Jammu Kashmir Reservation Rules, 2005. 

The amended rules granted an additional 10 per cent reservation to four communities—Paharis, Paddaris, Kolis and Gadda Brahmins— by classifying them as Scheduled Tribes (STs), thereby increasing their total reservation to 20 per cent.  The OBC quota was also enhanced from existing 4 per cent to 8 per cent, taking the total reservations to 60 per cent, in contrast to the 69 per cent of the population categorised ‘general’ as per 2011 census.

Space for Dissent 

Valley based political analysts believe that the protest reflects the space for democratic dissent both within the region and the National Conference. 

“Over the last six years, there was no room for such protests,” said Shahnawaz Hussain, a political analyst. 

He added that it also underlines the ample space for democratic dissent within the National Conferee as a political party. 

Appearance of Abdullah’s son

Abdullah’s son Zahir Abdullah was also spotted during the protest. However, it was not confirmed if he was part of the protest. 

A party spokesperson told businessline that he did not know if the CM’s son was there. “I was not there myself, so I can’t confirm his participation,” he said.