Budgam, Nov 3: Member of Parliament from Srinagar Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi on Tuesday resigned from National Conference.
In his resignation letter addressed to party President Dr Farooq Abdullah, dated 03-11-2026, Ruhullah said he will begin his letter with a note that meshes history with the present of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Our region and its people bear the burden of history. The weight of history hangs on our past, present and future like the Damocles Sword. This is all the more burdensome since the abrogation of Article 35A and Article 370 in 2019. This shock to the people, our history, and our politic was a brazen assault on our rights,” he wrote.
He said 2019 was also paradoxically an opportunity to reclaim politics, political space and rights, but it called for struggle, sacrifices and prices.
“My working assumption then was that the National Conference, the grand old party of Kashmir, was the natural candidate for the struggle that the situation demanded,” he said.
Ruhullah said he approached the party leadership and was assured of a struggle. Based on this assurance, he aligned his politics more vigorously with the NC with the hope that it would create and catalyze a movement for restoration of rights.
“But, alas, this was not to be. I vigorously and tirelessly campaigned in the electoral arena in 2024. I will not claim credit for the vote share and seat share of the NC. All I will say is I did my best. The people poured their anger and expectations on NC with a massive mandate. But the electoral arena had not yet cooled down, the NC did an about turn,” he wrote.
He said what hurt him most was that when able and determined leadership was needed to take the struggle for rights further, the NC abdicated the space for mere governmentality and for a vain and vague promise of so-called restoration of statehood.
“When I approached you regarding this, the strains in our political relationship developed. Insult was added to injury when the party aligned itself to a stance of total and absolute abdication,” he said.
He said people of Kashmir are in the midst of many cross-cutting transitions and forces behind these are so powerful that one can’t be sure if Kashmir will remain Kashmir in not so distant future.
“Depoliticization and abdication of politics, at this critical time, aids and abets this process of denudation of the people of JK. I cannot and will not be party to this. My conscience and ethics determined politics will not allow this,” he said.
“I thank you for the political journey we have had together till now. But this will not continue. I, hereby, tender my resignation from the party. I will, with Allah’s help, find a niche and way to serve my people to the best of my ability and capacity. This is a pledge that I have made with my father’s soul and above all with my creator. I will stick to principles and not expedience that my faith, values and ancestral guidance inspire,” the letter reads.
Earlier in the day, Ruhullah had announced his resignation as MP and from NC during a rally at Budgam on the martyrdom anniversary of his father late Aga Syed Mehdi.
