NC MP Mehdi claims armed police stationed outside his home on eve of protest over reservations

Srinagar, Dec 27 (PTI) Estranged National Conference MP Ruhullah Mehdi on Saturday claimed that armed police have been deployed outside his residence in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district, a day ahead of his protest on the issue of rationalisation of reservation.

“Armed police have been deployed outside the residence of Hon'ble MP @RuhullahMehdi. Is this a pre-emptive crackdown to silence a peaceful, pro-student demonstration?” a post on Mehdi's official X handle said.

The Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar said if the deployment was a pre-emptive measure, “it exposes a disturbing fear of dissent”.

“The authorities owe the public an explanation on what this deployment is for,” he said, adding, “Our plans for tomorrow stand.” Mehdi on Thursday threatened the government with a protest if it did not apprise the students of the steps taken to resolve the reservation matter.

He announced that he would go on a protest on Sunday if the NC-led government did not meet his demand.

Last month, Mehdi asked the government to resolve the reservation issue before the end of the Winter Session of Parliament, threatening to join the quota protests if no action was taken.

However, he could not travel to Srinagar due to flight disruptions.

In December last year, Mehdi had joined a protest on the issue in front of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's residence in the Gupkar area here.

After the protest, Abdullah set up a Cabinet sub-committee to look into the students' concerns against the existing reservation policy in the Union territory and submit a report within six months.

On October 16, Abdullah said the Cabinet had accepted the report of the sub-committee, which has been sent to the lieutenant governor for approval. PTI SSB ARI