India, Dec. 29 -- The Jammu and Kashmir government on Sunday prevented a proposed protest against the existing reservation policy by placing several political leaders, including Srinagar MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi and PDP leader Iltija Mufti, under house arrest and sealing the venue where the sit-in was scheduled.

A report from Srinagar said that the police barricaded a park in Srinagar where members of the Open Merit Students Association were to hold a sit-in, prompting the group to call off the protest.

The association, which has been demanding a rationalisation of the reservation policy for several months, said the decision was taken due to "circumstances beyond our control".

Open-merit students argue that the current policy disproportio...