Amid J-K statehood buzz, Farooq Abdullah reminds Modi Govt of its promise – ‘they said the minute you have elections'
Abdullah's remarks come on the eve of six years since Article 370 of Jammu and Kashmir was abrogated and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Also, there has been a strong buzz over the centre planning something on the Jammu and Kashmir 'statehood,' more so after PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the middle of the Monsoon Session of Parliament here on Sunday
The former chief minister held the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the Centre to fulfil its promise and urged it to hold elections to Rajya Sabha seats and not deny people the right to speak about their problems.
"When are they going to return the statehood? They said that the minute you have elections and the government is formed, the statehood will be restored. What has happened to that? Now they are saying that they will hold elections in two vacant assembly seats, but what about elections to four seats in the Rajya Sabha? Why are they denying people the right to get to that house to speak of their problems?" Abdullah told ANI, reminding the Union government of its promise to restore Jammu and Kashmir's statehood.
Farooq is a three-time chief minister of the erstwhile state, a former Member of Parliament (MP) and ex-Union Minister.
Assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2024.
Farooq's son and Jammu and Kashmir's chief minister, Omar Abdullah, has long demanded statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, which the Union government has also promised.
On 6 June, Omar Abdullah raised the issue of restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagging off of the maiden train to Kashmir.
On 13 January 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking in Jammu and Kashmir, responded to Omar Abdullah's reminder to fulfil his promise to restore statehood to the union territory. 'The right things are going to happen at the right time,' Modi said.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on 16 July wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the government to bring forward legislation to grant full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
'We urge upon the Government to bring forward legislation in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament to grant full statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,' read the letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the two Congress leaders.
The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. Tuesday will be the sixth anniversary of the decision. Incidentally, the Parliament session is also on.
"There is a lot of speculation about what may be announced tomorrow (5th Aug). The peace in Kashmir has come about at a great cost of human lives of security forces personnel and innocent civilians," Army veteran KJS Dhillon said in one of the posts on X.
"Let the whole thing settle down. Let's not jump the gun," he said.
Union Home Minister AmitShah called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Sunday. The meeting came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on the President.
The reasons behind the subsequent meetings of the prime minister and the home minister with the President were not known, but these meetings fuelled buzz over some decision about statehood for Jammu and Kashmir
"Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan," the Rashtrapati Bhavan wrote on 'X'.
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Abdullah said that the six-year persistence of this status is "far beyond what any reasonable interpretation of the word might allow" and that an arrangement "meant to be transitional cannot be allowed to harden into permanence". Abdullah pointed to two recent events as "extraordinary opportunities to heal historical wounds and reinforce national unity": the high voter turnout in the recent elections and the public condemnation of terror following an incident at Pahalgam. The restoration must not be viewed as a concession, but as an essential course correction. "To allow such moments to pass – unacknowledged or unreciprocated due to narrow partisan calculations, will, without doubt, be a monumental mistake," the chief minister cautioned and quoted famous poet Muzaffar Razmi Kairanavi: "Lamhon ne khata ki thi, sadiyon ne saza payi (Moments committed the mistake, centuries got the punishment)".
