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Students from the Open Merit class successful Kashmir connected Sunday (December 28, 2025) cancelled a sit-in protestation successful Srinagar implicit “unfair preservation quota”. The determination came aft respective governmental leaders, including National Conference’s Aga Syed Ruhullah, Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Waheed-ur-Rehmaan Parra, and Iltija Mufti, were allegedly placed nether location apprehension and student leaders detained.
A spokesperson of the Open Merit Students Association J&K, 1 of the organisations championing the origin of the Open Merit aspirants, successful a station connected X (formerly Twitter), announced that the sit-in has been cancelled.
“Today’s (December 28, 2025) sit-in cum meet-up connected the unfair preservation argumentation stands cancelled owed to circumstances beyond our control. We impulse each students to stay calm. Students are advised to instrumentality safely to their hostels, libraries, oregon homes,” the spokesperson of the Association said. “No pupil is astatine fault. There is nary menace oregon risk. Please enactment calm and bash not panic,” the spokesperson added.
A pupil leader, pleading anonymity, said galore pupil activists were taken into preventive detention oregon directed not to organise immoderate protestation since Saturday (December 27, 2025) evening. The pupil person said, “The venue successful Srinagar’s Polo View country was besides closed with concertina wires by the information forces.”
Meanwhile, NC Member of Parliament Ruhullah, PDP legislator Parra and PDP person Iltija Mufti accused the J&K Police of placing them nether location apprehension successful Srinagar, successful a bid to halt them from joining the protesting students.
“The Police has officially informed MP Ruhullah that helium has been placed nether location apprehension and is barred from stepping outside. We person besides received reports precocious past nighttime that students person been arrested and their families intimidated by the police. All this is due to the fact that of them asking for a just accidental astatine occurrence done a rational preservation policy,” an adjutant of MP Ruhullah said.
A PDP spokesperson said the “house arrest” of MLA Parra was “blatant State repression, aimed astatine silencing dissent and truth.”
“Instead of fixing a profoundly unjust preservation policy, the authorities is crushing voices exposing however Open Merit students’ hard work, merit, careers and futures are being destroyed,” the spokesperson said.
Ms. Mufti, posting a representation of her residence sealed with concertina wires, said, “Like galore others, I person besides been placed nether location apprehension astatine Srinagar contiguous (December 28, 2025). The insecurity and paranoia of the information agencies know no bounds. This is the ‘normalcy’ successful Naya Kashmir. An full contingent of pistillate constabulary unit was deputed astatine the gross to physically halt me,” Ms. Mufti said.
J&K is witnessing increasing protests from the Open Merit class students. In the aftermath of protests, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, aft assuming powerfulness successful October 2024, acceptable up a three-member Cabinet subcommittee to rationalise the Open Merit class stock to 50%. Mr. Abdullah has already submitted the connection to the Lok Bhavan for approval. However, determination are increasing demands to marque the details of the connection public.
