Srinagar Reservation Protest Called Off Amid House Arrests of Political Leaders

The Open Merit Students Association abruptly cancelled its scheduled peaceful sit-in protest in central Srinagar on December 28, 2025, against Jammu and Kashmir's widely criticized reservation policy, following preemptive measures by authorities that included sealing the designated venue at Polo View Park near the city centre and imposing house arrests on multiple prominent political leaders expected to join the demonstration.

Prominent figures placed under strict house detention overnight included National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi at his Gupkar Road residence, PDP MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, former Srinagar Mayor and independent leader Junaid Azim Mattu, PDP leader Iltija Mufti at her Fairview residence, and several student activists, with heavy contingents of Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF deployed outside their homes to enforce restrictions.

The planned demonstration sought to peacefully highlight longstanding grievances over the current reservation framework, which has reduced the open merit quota for government jobs and professional courses to approximately 40 percent, demanding immediate withdrawal of contentious provisions like Rule 17, a comprehensive policy review, equitable opportunities for all aspirants irrespective of category, and suspension of further quota expansions until reforms are implemented.

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Detained leaders vociferously condemned the restrictions through social media statements, with Ruhullah Mehdi's office questioning the heavy armed deployment as an attempt to suppress legitimate dissent, Waheed Parra's party labeling it a weaponization of security against students' rights, Junaid Mattu describing it as an apartheid-like policy against merit-based aspirants, and Iltija Mufti highlighting the deployment of female police personnel as indicative of paranoia in the administration's handling of "Naya Kashmir."

The reservation controversy has intensified since post-2019 amendments expanded categories to over 60 percent—including 8% for Scheduled Castes, 20% for Scheduled Tribes, 10% for EWS, 10% for Residents of Backward Areas, 8% for OBCs, and additional horizontal reservations—prompting widespread protests; despite a Cabinet Sub-Committee's recent report proposing a 10% open merit increase by reducing EWS and RBA quotas, forwarded to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in early December 2025, final approval remains pending amid escalating political and public pressure.

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