00:00I'm struggling for that, I'm fighting for that, and this has taken my responsibility
00:05to the national level, and at the national level I understand the plight of the Muslims,
00:10I understand the plight of the Dalits in other oppressed sections of the society.
00:15To be honest, it was not my choice, as you said my father was assassinated, circumstances
00:20forced me into politics, it was largely the decision of the people who were associated
00:26with my father.
00:27It has changed drastically because of the challenge that we have, the challenge which
00:34emerged after the abrogation of 370, the restoration of our dignity, the challenge is the restoration
00:42of our dignity and rights.
00:44He was a 20-year-old man when his father was assassinated in the year 2001, 24 years down
00:51the line, Agha Ruhullah has emerged as the face of the national conference.
00:56Agha sahib, did you join politics by choice or was it by compulsion?
01:03To be honest, it was not my choice, as you said my father was assassinated, circumstances
01:08forced me into politics, it was largely the decision of the people who were associated
01:14with my father that I should participate in politics.
01:20So if you ask me, the honest answer is that it was not my choice, but it was the result
01:27of the circumstances which emerged when my father was assassinated.
01:33How has your political journey been so far?
01:36It's been a learning process, it's been a factor which helped me in my evolution, I
01:44evolved a lot, it's been a tough, it's been a challenging journey, but nevertheless I
01:51am thankful to my people, those who have supported me all along and I have achieved many milestones.
01:58I want this evolution to result into a contribution towards the progress of my society, I want
02:10to give back to my society what I have learned from this experience, represent them in a
02:14better way, represent them in a comprehensive way with more understanding.
02:19I understand things better than what I understood 10 years ago, I hope I have a better understanding
02:27of things with more time to come, so I want to represent them in a much better way, represent
02:34their sentiments, their aspirations, understand how the society wants us to function, the
02:40political executive, and then translate that into the actual functioning of the political
02:46executive, so this is how I want to contribute in return.
02:50How much has your role changed from an MLA to an MP?
02:57It has changed drastically because of the challenge that we have, the challenge which
03:05emerged after the abrogation of 370, the restoration of our dignity, the challenge
03:12is the restoration of our dignity and rights, so I am struggling for that, I am fighting
03:18for that, and this has taken my responsibility to the national level, and at the national
03:24level I understand the plight of the Muslims, I understand the plight of the Dalits, the
03:29other oppressed sections of the society, so that gives me a sense of responsibility to
03:34address those issues and struggle for those issues, so the level has gone up, with that
03:41the responsibility has increased.
03:44What's the biggest challenge Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing now?
03:48The existential question after the abrogation of 370, after the decisions of August 5, when
03:58we were turned into second class citizens, and every purpose and reason for which we
04:03acceded to the Union of India was taken away from us, so we have a question how to deal
04:07with it, what is the way forward, what to do with it, where do we exist, what should
04:13be our existence, so this is the biggest challenge, and in my view the return of those rights,
04:20that dignity and that identity is the only solution for us.
04:23Agar sir, when you say rights and dignity of the people, if you remember the NC Fort
04:29last elections, on the plank of autonomy was the major, one of the major thing, now
04:36even article 370 is born, why should people vote for NC, why do you think people should
04:42vote for NC?
04:43Should people not vote for NC because BJP was in a brute majority and they took away
04:48from us the rights and the dignity, and they did that undemocratically and unconstitutionally,
04:56then people should in return, in my opinion, strengthen their own representation which
05:02will fight back against these forces, or should, as your question suggests, or should people
05:08give in to those forces and then surrender, if there is a third way, let me know and make
05:15me understand that there is a third way, so it's a question between surrendering to those
05:20forces or getting your act together and strengthening your representation and fighting back for
05:27your struggle, struggling back and fighting back for the return of your rights.
05:31Agar sir, Badgam's political landscape has rapidly shifted, many of the family members
05:38and relatives from the Agar family are contesting polls, who do you think is fit to replace
05:44them, as an MLA you were earlier, who is the right, perfect person for the job?
05:49I think you will have the answer in a couple of days, I would have been glad if Umar sahib
05:57came and contested from this Badgam assembly segment, I would have been glad, but let's
06:06see what happens, you will get the answer in a couple of days.
06:09My last question is, why did not National Conference go solo in these polls?
06:16Because we wanted secular allies and forces to come along, because it's not the fight
06:24which we have to fight in J&K only, it's a fight which we have to fight in entire nation,
06:32so for that we need to ally with the forces who are useful not only in J&K but in entire India.
06:41Thank you so much.
06:42That was firebrand NC leader Agar Saeed Roohana, sharing his experience of the political struggle
06:50and what his party aspires to do, with camera person Irfan Khan, Izhar Ali, in Srinagar
06:56for One India.
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