National Conference's Member of Parliament Aga Ruhullah Mehdi was among political leaders who were placed under house arrest to prevent them from joining the students' protest against the existing reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.
Protests were planned against the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah-led government, demanding rationalisation of the reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir. The general category or open merit students have been demanding due share in jobs and admissions in professional courses based on the population of the general category in J&K.
"I have been put under house arrest. Policemen have been deployed around my residence in Budgam, and gates have been blocked," said Aga Ruhullah, the Member of Parliament from Srinagar.
He said that several student activists have also been detained ahead of protests.
"The police has officially informed Hon'ble MP Ruhullah Mehdi that he has been placed under house arrest and is barred from stepping outside. We have also received reports late last night that students have been arrested and their families intimidated by the police. All this is because of them asking for a fair chance at success through a rational reservation policy," Agas' office said in a post on X.
The estranged National Conference MP had also threatened to protest against Lt Governor Manoj Sinha after the National Conference termed the protest as "misdirected". The party said that the J&K cabinet has already approved a new reservation policy which has been pending before the Lt Governor for about a month.
Aga, who has been openly speaking against Omar Abdullah and blaming him for "compromising core party ideology", has made the reservation issue central to his politics.
Before announcing a sit-in protest, he had asked the government to initiate a meaningful dialogue with stakeholders and ensure an equitable resolution of the reversion issue in Jammu and Kashmir.
Iltija Mufti, PDP leader and daughter of former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, also said that she has been placed under house arrest in Srinagar.
"The insecurity & paranoia of the security agencies knows no bounds," she wrote on X.
Like many others Ive also been placed under house arrest at Srinagar today. The insecurity & paranoia of the security agencies knows no bounds. This is the ‘normalcy' in Naya Kashmir. An entire contingent of female police personnel is deputed at the gate to physically stop me.… pic.twitter.com/DCnXi5rwwJ
— Iltija Mufti (@IltijaMufti_) December 28, 2025
PDP MLA Waheed ur Rehman Parra, who had announced he would join reservation protests led by Aga, said that he has also been put under house detention. The PDP leaders also shared pictures of a police truck parked outside the gate of Parra's home.
In the middle of the night, @parawahid has been put under house arrest. Why is a peaceful protest for students' rights being weaponised? pic.twitter.com/V7glYPLeUG
— Arif Amin (@ArifAmin__) December 27, 2025
As per the existing reservation policy invoked during direct central rule, the general category, which makes up 70 per cent of the population in Jammu and Kashmir, gets only 40 per cent of the seats in government recruitments.
The J&K cabinet recently tried to change it. Sources say as per the new reservation policy adopted by the cabinet, 50 per cent of jobs will now remain available for open merit or the general category in Jammu and Kashmir.
But a cabinet decision in the union territory needs approval from the Lt Governor. The Chief Minister has said that the file has been sent to the Lt Governor for his approval on December 3. It's still pending with him for approval.
After the formation of the elected government, there is massive unrest over the disproportionate quota for reserved categories in the union territory.
The new policy has been adopted after a year of consultations by a cabinet sub-committee.
Following the cabinet decision on December 3, Abdullah said that his government has rationalised the reservation policy in the best possible manner to ensure justice for sections of people.
After Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its statehood and special status under Article 370 in 2019, there have been major changes in rules, including the reservations.
In March last year, the Centre granted scheduled tribe status to Pahari-speaking people and groups like Paddari, Koli and Gadda Brahmins in Jammu and Kashmir. Before abrogation, only the Gujjar and Bakerwals tribes were classified as Scheduled Tribes with a 10 per cent reservation in jobs. After the inclusion of Parahis, the reservation quota for the ST category is now increased to 20 per cent.
Scheduled Castes, OBCs, EWS, Line of Control, and Resident Backward Areas (RBC) are among the categories which take the reservation way above 60 per cent in jobs in Jammu and Kashmir.
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