The Jammu and Kashmir government on Sunday foiled a proposed protest against the existing reservation policy by putting senior leaders, including Srinagar MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi and PDP leader Iltija Mufti, under house arrest and sealing a park where the sit-in was scheduled.

Ruling National Conference president Farooq Abdullah defended the move, suggesting a rare convergence between lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha’s administration, which controls the police, and the Omar Abdullah-led government on an issue that has become a major source of resentment for the majority population falling under the open-merit category.

The Open Merit Students Association called off its protest following the government action.

The general category, or open-merit students, claim that the reservation policy gives 30-odd per cent of the population — who make up the reserved categories — a 60 per cent share in government jobs and professional-college seats. Additionally, they can also compete for the open-merit seats, hitting the general-category students harder.

“Today’s sit-in-cum-meet-up on the unfair reservation policy stands cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control,” the association, which has been fighting for months for rationalisation of the reservation policy, said.

The government action suggests how it is unwilling to relax its hard line even on apolitical issues in the Valley.

Several politicians took to social media to claim they had been placed under house arrest.

“The Police has officially informed Hon’ble MP @RuhullahMehdi that he has been placed under house arrest.... We have also received reports late last night that students have been arrested and their families intimidated by the police. All this is because of them asking for a fair chance at success through a rational reservation policy,” the office of the Srinagar MP post on X.

It said armed police had been deployed outside his residence.

PDP leader Iltija and MLA Waheed Parra have also been allegedly put under house arrest. “Like many others I’ve also been placed under house arrest at Srinagar today. The insecurity & paranoia of the security agencies knows no bounds. This is the ‘normalcy’ in Naya Kashmir. An entire contingent of female police personnel is deputed at the gate to physically stop me. Care to explain under what grounds @JmuKmrPolice ?” Iltija posted on X.