Oppn backs Farooq Abdullah's J&K statehood demand, BJP says Centre to decide at right time

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah’s renewed call for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) received support from Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) maintained that the Centre will take the “right decision at the right time”.

Abdullah, while interacting with a delegation of party functionaries from Anantnag West led by MLA Abdul Majeed Bhat Larmi, urged the Centre to honour its commitment to restore statehood. He warned that New Delhi would ultimately “regret” its decisions regarding the region.

The delegation apprised Abdullah of organisational issues, ongoing outreach programmes, and concerns over the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking to IANS, Congress leader Udit Raj strongly backed Abdullah’s demand.

“We support this, and it should have been reinstated much earlier. Although elections have been held, policing and administration remain with the Lieutenant Governor. In that sense, J&K has been betrayed. Full statehood should be restored without delay,” he said.

Congress MP Tariq Anwar echoed similar views, calling the denial of statehood an “injustice”.

“What Farooq Abdullah is saying is 100 per cent correct. For the first time in history, a state has been downgraded to a Union Territory. The Centre had promised to restore statehood after some time, but till now it has not fulfilled its word,” Anwar stated.

RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari also lent support to Abdullah’s position.

“This has been his demand for years. Whether in Delhi or Jammu and Kashmir, there has been a consistent demand for granting full statehood. The Centre should give serious consideration to it,” he said.

BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal underlined the region’s strategic significance and said the government was fully seized of the matter.

“Jammu and Kashmir is a border region of great importance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and the entire government are deeply concerned. Under PM Modi’s leadership, the Centre will take the right decision at the right time,” Khandelwal said.

This is not the first time the former Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, has raised the issue. On August 4, he criticised the Centre for failing to provide a timeline for reinstating statehood. He reminded the government of its earlier assurance that statehood would be restored once elections were held.

“When are they going to return statehood? They had said that once elections are held and the government is formed, statehood would be restored. Now they are only talking of holding elections in two vacant Assembly seats. But what about elections to four Rajya Sabha seats? Why are they denying people the right to representation in Parliament?” Abdullah had said.

Reacting to the BJP’s plans to celebrate the abrogation of Article 370, Abdullah said the ruling party had “nothing to celebrate.”

“They have nothing to show for their six years here. Our educated boys and girls remain unemployed. Prices are rising, the poor are becoming poorer, while the rich get richer. What achievement is there to celebrate? Ultimately, they will have no choice but to restore statehood,” he had said.

Farooq Abdullah’s son and NC vice-president Omar Abdullah, the current CM, has also consistently pressed for statehood. In June, he said he would not hesitate to dissolve the state Assembly if it became necessary to achieve this goal. Speaking in Gulmarg, he emphasised that “statehood is not a privilege but a right of the people of J&K”.

The demand for restoring statehood has been at the centre of political debate ever since August 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated, J&K lost its special status, and the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories -- J&K and Ladakh. The Centre had assured that statehood would be reinstated at an appropriate time, but no specific timeline has been given.

--IANS

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