Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir strongly criticised the National Conference (NC)-led government on Saturday for defending the current reservation policy in the high court. The policy in question allocates 70 per cent quota to various groups, a move that has triggered widespread protests and legal challenges.
The controversy deepened after the Jammu and Kashmir Social Welfare Department submitted an affidavit to the high court, urging the dismissal of a petition titled Zahoor Ahmad Bhat and others versus UT of J-K and others. In its affidavit, the department described the writ petition as "mischievous" and "frivolous in nature," alleging that it had been filed with the sole intent of abusing the judicial process.
This development came despite the government having recently announced the formation of a Cabinet sub-committee to examine the reservation policy.
The sub-committee, headed by Social Welfare Minister Sakina Itoo, was constituted in response to growing protests and criticism of the reservation structure. However, opposition parties have accused the administration of doublespeak and insincerity.
Waheed Para, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA from Pulwama, took to social media to call the sub-committee a "facade" intended to mislead the public.
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He said the government's defence of the "deeply flawed" reservation policy in court contradicts its public stance and claimed that seeking to dismiss the writ petition as baseless was a deliberate move to undermine the prospects of meritorious students in the Union Territory.
Sajad Lone, chief of the Peoples’ Conference and MLA from Handwara, also questioned the government's credibility, pointing out that the affidavit filed in court did not even mention the existence of the Cabinet sub-committee. He called it a "legal mystery" and suggested that the government did not appear to take its own sub-committee seriously enough to include it in official legal proceedings.
Amid the criticism, Social Welfare Minister Sakina Itoo announced that the Cabinet sub-committee would be meeting various delegations at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on Sunday. The purpose of the meeting, she said, would be to address major concerns and gather suggestions related to the reservation policy.
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