Not asking for anything beyond promises, says Omar on statehood

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday welcomed the Congress initiative to write to the Prime Minister, advocating for the restoration of statehood to the Union Territory. “We are not demanding anything that was not promised to us,” he said.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a function in Jammu, Abdullah pointed out that even the Supreme Court had directed the Central government to restore statehood to J&K “as soon as possible” long ago.

Reacting to the letter written by Congress leaders to the Prime Minister, Abdullah said, “This is a very good development. We were waiting for the day when the opposition would raise our voice in Parliament and in Delhi. I am thankful to Kharge and Rahul Gandhi for taking up the issue of statehood with the Centre.”

He added, “We are not asking for anything that was not promised to us. Time and again—inside Parliament, outside Parliament, in the Supreme Court, and in public functions—we were assured that statehood would be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time.”

“You might remember, when the Supreme Court passed its judgment on Article 370, it also directed the restoration of statehood as soon as possible. We are saying that ‘as soon as possible’ has long passed, and now Jammu and Kashmir should get back its statehood without further delay,” Abdullah said.

Asked about the Congress’s reported plan to ‘gherao’ Parliament on the opening day of the Monsoon Session, Abdullah said, “We have had no discussions with them on this so far. We will talk and see what course of action we need to take.”

Meanwhile, J&K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra also accused the Centre of denying the people of J&K “their most genuine and basic right.” He said, “It is most unfortunate and reflects the dictatorial attitude of the BJP government towards the people of J&K.”