Srinagar, Jul 15: National Conference (NC) Member of Parliament Aga Syed Ruhullah on Wednesday received support from relatives of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti and Islamic scholar Sameer Siddiqui during an outreach programme in Bijbehara, the Mufti family’s hometown and the PDP’s traditional stronghold for nearly 25 years.
The meeting, hosted by Mehbooba Mufti’s paternal cousin and late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed’s nephew Sajad Mufti at his residence, was attended by youth, local residents, and Siddiqui, also a relative of the Mufti family.
The gathering sparked political speculation about a possible new platform around Ruhullah, but the organisers ruled out any move towards forming a political outfit.
Ruhullah said the speculation about him launching a political party was largely restricted to social media.
“I am baffled about the sources quoted by different social media pages and where these things are coming from. I myself am looking for that source. The rumours about forming a political party are confined to social media and are being floated for views and sensation,” he said. “My fight is much beyond forming a political party.”
Ruhullah said his campaign was focused on restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s identity, dignity, and constitutional rights.
“I will continue to fight for the restoration of our identity, dignity and self-respect. This fight is not only about political rights but also about our social, cultural and religious identity,” he said.
Ruhullah said protection of the rights of all communities, including Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs, was part of this larger struggle.
He also slammed his party NC and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah saying NC sought votes during the Assembly elections on the promise of fighting for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional position.
“People voted believing the party would represent their aspirations and fight for their constitutional rights. However, soon after assuming power, the focus shifted towards restoration of statehood,” Ruhullah said.
He said the NC had, before the elections, criticised a statehood-only narrative as being in line with the BJP’s position, but was now adopting the same approach.
“Now they are themselves carrying forward the same narrative,” Ruhullah said. “Whoever walks away from that commitment and speaks only about statehood is helping normalise the post-2019 status quo and carrying forward the BJP’s narrative,” he said, asserting that he would stand by the electoral commitments “irrespective of the political consequences.” Sameer Siddiqui, on the occasion also rejected speculation about any political formation at the event, stating the gathering centred on constitutional issues.
“The rights taken away on August 5, 2019, were constitutional rights. Seeking their restoration is neither unconstitutional nor illegal,” he said.
Siddiqui said J&K’s constitutional position had protected its identity, language and culture. “Our voice is not merely for roads or electricity. It is for dignity, conscience and constitutional rights,” he said.
Defending the participation of religious scholars in public debates, Siddiqui said issues concerning justice and rights could not be separated from society.
“Politics cannot be left only to opportunists. If a person with conscience cannot speak about the rights of people, then who will?” he said.
His remarks came after criticism from his close relative Shabir Siddiqui, who according to Sameer had questioned the role of clerics in politics.
Shabir Siddiqui had contested the 2024 Assembly elections from Pahalgam on a PDP ticket and lost to NC candidate Altaf Ahmad Wani (Kaloo).
Sameer Siddiqui, who delivers sermons at Khan-I-Hyderi in Aishmuqam, enjoys influence in the Aishmuqam-Pahalgam belt. Though a Sunni scholar, he has advocated Sunni-Shia unity.
Sajad Mufti, also rejected speculations about forming a new political party saying Ruhullah was invited because of his stand on constitutional rights, reservation and unemployment.
“There is nothing about forming a political party. We invited him because these issues – jobs and rationalisation of reservation policy in J&K – concern the youth,” he said. Mufti, a retired Conservator in Forest Department, had indicated his interest in joining the PDP ahead of the 2014 Assembly elections and had even considered resigning from government service.
However, he dropped the plan after Mufti Muhammad Sayeed’s death in 2016. He has since remained critical of the party and its president Mehbooba Mufti, whom he felt sidelined him. The meeting came amid Ruhullah’s differences with the NC leadership. Ruhullah has maintained that restoration of Article 370 and Article 35-A should remain central to political discourse and has differed with the party over its emphasis on restoration of statehood.
Bijbehara’s political journey
Bijbehara’s political importance predates the PDP. Mufti Muhammad Sayeed began his political career with the Democratic National Conference (DNC), a breakaway faction of the National Conference formed by Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq in 1957 following differences with the NC leadership headed by Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad. The DNC briefly merged back with Bakshi’s National Conference in 1960. After this, Mufti won the 1962 Assembly elections unopposed from Bijbehara on an NC ticket.
Following Bakshi’s resignation under the Kamaraj Plan in 1963, Khwaja Shams-ud-Din briefly served as Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
G M Sadiq became Prime Minister in 1964. In 1965, after the Sixth Constitution Amendment of Jammu and Kashmir, the designation of Prime Minister was replaced with Chief Minister. Sadiq became the first Chief Minister of the state. The same year, the Sadiq-led National Conference merged with the Congress, even as Bakshi refused and ran his faction of the NC. In 1967, Congress won the elections comfortably and Sadiq returned as CM, however Bakshi contested the elections under the NC banner but lost badly securing only 8 seats Mufti also joined the Congress and won Bijbehara in 1967, again elected unopposed. This time he was appointed as Deputy Agriculture Minister. In 1972, he became a full-fledged cabinet minister for the first time and served as Works Minister in the Syed Mir Qasim-led Congress government after being nominated as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC). He also headed the Jammu and Kashmir Congress unit.
After the 1975 Indira-Sheikh Accord, the Plebiscite Front was dissolved and Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and Mirza Afzal Beg returned to active politics through the revived National Conference. The NC returned to power in 1977. Abdul Gani Shah (Veeri) defeated Mufti Muhammad Sayeed from Bijbehara in the 1977 elections and again in 1983. In 1987, NC’s Veeri retained the seat by defeating Muslim United Front (MUF) candidate and Jamaat leader Advocate Muhammad Sultan in a closely fought contest decided by a narrow margin.
Mufti later moved to national politics, joining Rajiv Gandhi’s government as Tourism Minister in 1986. In 1987, he quit Congress to join V P Singh’s Jan Morcha and later became India’s first Muslim Union Home Minister, serving from 1989 to 1990. He returned to Congress under P V Narasimha Rao but left the party in 1999 with his daughter Mehbooba Mufti to form the PDP. Mehbooba Mufti revived the family’s electoral fortunes in 1996 by defeating veteran NC leader Abdul Gani Shah Veeri from Bijbehara on a Congress ticket.
After the PDP’s formation, in 1999 she vacated the seat and the party fielded Abdul Rehman Bhat Veeri, a long-time Congress loyalist and close associate of Mufti Sayeed, in the by-election. Veeri defeated NC candidate Rafi Ahmad Mir to become the first PDP MLA from Bijbehara. He retained the seat in 2002, 2008 and 2014, defeating Abdul Gani Shah Veeri once and his son Bashir Ahamd Shah Veeri twice, turning Bijbehara into the PDP’s strongest electoral base in south Kashmir. PDP era and changing equations, NC reclaiming Bijbehara The PDP formed a coalition government with Congress in 2002 under a rotational Chief Minister arrangement, with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed becoming Chief Minister.
Mehbooba Mufti, who had won the Pahalgam Assembly seat in 2002, vacated it in 2004 to allow her father to contest. Mufti won the by-election by defeating NC candidate Rafi Ahmad Mir. In the same year, Mehbooba contested Lok Sabha elections from Anantnag parliamentary seat and won. She later contested the 2008 assembly elections from the Wachi-Zainapora Assembly seat and emerged victorious again. After the PDP entered into an alliance with the BJP in 2015, Mufti returned as Chief Minister but died in January 2016, barely ten months after taking oath.Mehbooba Mufti succeeded him and later won the Anantnag Assembly by-election in 2016.
She remained in office till June 19, 2018, when the BJP withdrew its support from the PDP. Mehbooba later lost the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Anantnag, her first electoral defeats in south Kashmir. In the 2024 Assembly elections, the PDP fielded her daughter Iltija Mufti from Bijbehara while shifting Abdul Rehman Bhat Veeri to Anantnag East-Shangus. Iltija lost to NC candidate Syed Bashir Ahmad (Veeri), ending the PDP’s uninterrupted hold over Bijbehara since 1999 and allowing the NC to reclaim the seat.
Today’s Bijbehara meeting did not result in any political announcement but brought together figures linked to different political streams at a time when the direction of mainstream politics in Jammu and Kashmir remains contested.
