SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah urged the INDIA bloc leaders to join the planned protest by NC’s legislature party in New Delhi on the opening day of the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament to demand restoration of statehood for Union Territory.
Omar raised the issue at the INDIA bloc meeting on Monday in the national capital, where opposition leaders gathered to discuss their future political strategy.
“Omar urged all participating parties to join us when we come to Delhi to peacefully and democratically demand restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood,” NC spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said. According to Tanvir, Omar has informed the INDIA bloc leaders that “we will be writing to each party individually, seeking their support in this collective fight for the constitutional and democratic rights of the people of J&K.”
The call for broader opposition backing comes after June 3 meeting of NC MLAs and MPs and independent legislators supporting the Omar government unanimously decided that NC’s legislature party would stage a protest in New Delhi either at Jantar Mantar or any other venue on the opening day of the Monsoon session of Parliament to demand restoration of statehood and constitutional guarantees for Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Sadiq, the party’s leadership believes that the time has come to go to Delhi and talk to people in Delhi for restoration of “whatever was taken away from us.”
On August 5, 2019, the Centre scrapped J&K’s special status and downgraded and bifurcated erstwhile J&K state into two Union Territories --- Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature).
The Omar cabinet in its first meeting in October 2024 had passed a resolution calling for restoration of statehood to J&K in its original form.The restoration of statehood, according to the cabinet, will be the beginning of a healing process, reclaiming the constitutional rights and protecting the identity of people of Jammu and Kashmir.
After the passage of the cabinet resolution, Omar handed over copies of the resolution demanding early restoration of statehood to J&K to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other central leaders.
But there has been no forward movement on the issue so far. The BJP leaders say that statehood would be restored by the central government at an appropriate time as has been promised by PM Modi and HM Amit Shah. After lying low on the issue, the Omar government after 19 months in power has hardened its stand on restoration of statehood.
