IIOJK reservation row: Waheed Para warns of street protests if govt fails to act
PDP MLA calls for review of quota policy, says existing system is unjust to Kashmiri youth
Srinagar : In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislator Waheed-ur-Rehman Para has warned the National Conference-led government that people will take to the streets if it fails to resolve the reservation issue, terming the existing system unjust to the Kashmiri youth.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in a media interview, Para, who represents Pulwama in the IIOJK Legislative Assembly, said the Omar Abdullah-led government had been given six months to rationalize the reservation system, but despite two years having passed, no concrete outcome had emerged. He said the elected government had the authority to issue an administrative order on the issue.
“The government has not even made the report public. Unless the reservation system is reviewed and rationalized in accordance with the population and prevailing circumstances, injustice will continue against the youth of Kashmir, and it will also be against merit,” Para said. He warned that if the government failed to resolve the “sensitive issue,” people would be forced to take to the streets.
Pertinently, the existing reservation policy in IIOJK provides for around 67 per cent reservation in government jobs and admissions to professional courses, leaving only 33 per cent for the open-merit category. Critics of the policy argue that this disproportionately affects candidates competing under ope merit, which constitute around 70 per cent of IIOJK’s population. The current reservation framework was introduced by the Lieutenant Governor-led administration in April 2024. Following opposition by political parties and general-category students in the Valley, the elected IIOJK government constituted a cabinet sub-committee on December 10, 2024, to examine grievances regarding the reservation policy. The government later said that the committee had submitted its report to the Lieutenant Governor. Following the abrogation of IIOJK’s special status in August 2019 and its reorganization as a Union Territory, important cabinet decisions are sent to New Delhi through LG’s office.
Earlier on Thursday, figures presented by the Revenue Department in response to a question raised by Waheed Para during the ongoing Assembly session showed that 1,762,474 reservation-category certificates had been issued in IIOJK between 2018 and 2026. Of these, 1,417,028 were issued in the Hindu-dominated Jammu region and 345,446 in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley. Certificates issued in the Jammu division account for around 80.4 percent of the total.
Para said the figures showed that 70 percent of the population of IIOJK was left with only 33 percent of opportunities in government jobs and admissions to professional colleges.
“If 80 percent of category certificates have been issued in Jammu, it is a matter of concern for the Kashmiri-speaking population, particularly at a time when they are facing difficulties in employment and admissions. This is a matter of concern for Kashmir and also a major issue of protecting merit in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Waheed Para said that the PDP was not against reservation but demanded that it be implemented in proportion to the population. “Unfortunately, reservation is against the Kashmiri population, and the selection lists for government jobs also show this. One reason for this is that Kashmiri candidates are selected through the open merit category,” he said.
