Omar Abdullah meets students protesting outside his residence over reservation issue: ‘Given number of assurances’

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday met students who were protesting outside his residence over the issue of the reservation.

Abdullah said that he has given them a number of assurances and the channel of communication will remain open.

“Today I met the representatives of the Open Merit Students Association. The beauty of democracy is the right to be heard & dialogue in a spirit of mutual cooperation,” said the Chief Minister.

Abdullah added that he has made certain requests of them & given them a number of assurances. “This channel of communication will remain open without any intermediaries or hangers on,” he said.

After meeting Abdullah, One of the students said, "We discussed the issues related to reservations. The sub-committee that was formed for it will work parallel and will solve it in a time-bound manner. 

"The main issue that we have regarding NEET-PG, we want immediate relief in that and he (the CM) has assured us of the same. It's not a protest but a wake-up call," a student told ANI.

Earlier in the day, National Conference leader and Lok Sabha member from Srinagar Aga Ruhullah Mehdi led a peaceful protest outside the residence of Abdullah to support the demand for "rationalisation" of reservations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Asked if he was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting between the students and the chief minister, the Lok Sabha member said his satisfaction was immaterial.

"If the students are satisfied, I am satisfied. The good thing is that the process of the sub-committee has been made time-bound. Earlier it was open-ended," Mehdi said.

He said it was wrong to call the event a protest as it was "an assembly of people to discuss" the reservation policy.

Several political leaders including Lok Sabha member from Baramulla Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer and leaders of arch-rival PDP -- Waheed Para and Iltija Mufti -- have supported the protest led by the leader of the ruling NC.