Share your story and shine at JK Monitor!🌟 Welcome to JK Monitor, where every story matters and every achievement is celebrated! We invite you to share the remarkable journey of your life and showcase your accomplishments to the world. Join our exclusive interviews that honor exceptional individuals just like you. JAMMU: The duplicity of the so-called INDI bloc, particularly the National Conference, stands exposed yet again on the historic Women’s Reservation Bill. These parties have mastered the art of speaking in two voices—opposing progressive legislation on the floor of Parliament while simultaneously projecting themselves as champions of women’s empowerment outside it.
The remarks by Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi are not only deeply irresponsible but dangerously divisive. While paying lip service to women’s reservation, his attempt to link it with delimitation and label the process as “gerrymandering” is a calculated political narrative aimed at stoking regional fault lines. His assertions that the Bill tilts power toward certain states is not only misleading but an affront to the constitutional framework governing representation in India. This was stated by Girdhari Lal Raina former MLC and spokesperson of BJP JK-UT.
Even more concerning is the underlying logic being advanced—that regions or states which have controlled population growth should be shielded from its democratic consequences, GL Raina said. Even this argument is selectively invoked to incite southern states, yet conveniently ignored when it comes to Jammu and Kashmir, he added. This selective outrage exposes the political opportunism at play.
GL Raina emphasised that India’s democracy is founded on the principle of equal citizenship—not demographic bargaining. Representation has always been territorial, not communal or selectively conditional. The moment we begin to argue that political power must be insulated from population realities, we risk opening a Pandora’s box where competitive demography overrides democratic equality, he asserted.
It is equally ironic that terms like “gerrymandering” are being loosely thrown around by those who have historically presided over deeply skewed and discriminatory delimitation practices in Jammu and Kashmir. From arbitrary allocation of constituencies post-1947 to systematic marginalization of certain regions and communities, the record speaks for itself.
The Delimitation Commission operates under a clear constitutional mandate—guided by geographical compactness, administrative coherence, natural boundaries, and accessibility, opined Raina. To undermine this statutory process for short-term political gains is not just irresponsible—it is an attempt to erode institutional credibility.
The National Conference must come clean. It cannot continue to oscillate between contradictory positions while its leaders make statements that threaten to distort the very foundations of India’s democratic structure, he demanded.
