Latest news with #Article370
United News of India
3 hours ago
- Politics
- United News of India
Statehood must for progress, development of J&K: Azad
Jammu, July 24 (UNI) Advocating for early restoration of statehood status former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and veteran politician, Ghulam Nabi Azad today stated that it is a must for the progress and development of Jammu and Kashmir. 'For development and progress, Jammu and Kashmir must get back the statehood status,' Azad, who was on a personal visit to Katra town in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, told reporters. And, he said that it is not an issue of Hindu, Muslim, Kashmiri or non-Kashmiri, but a concern of every party, region and religion. 'Either it is BJP in Jammu, National Conference in Kashmir, Congress or PDP and for all religions, statehood is very important,' he expressed. 'When I was MoS Home, I recommended three Union Territories as states and they became states but in my 50 years of political career, I have seen my own state becoming the UT,' Azad said. 'It was unfortunate but I am thankful to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister that during my discussions in the Parliament, they promised to restore the statehood status to Jammu and Kashmir. I will appreciate it if they fulfil the promise at the earliest,' said Azad. He added, 'Article 370 and statehood are two different issues." However, rebuffing his name doing the rounds as next Vice President of India, Azad said, 'I request everyone not to pay attention to the rumours.' 'We need to address the statehood issue, unemployment and focus on development, so we have no time for any rumours,' he asserted. UNI VBH ARN
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Ghulam Nabi Azad confident of Centre restoring statehood to J&K
Democratic Progressive Azad Party chairperson Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday (July 24, 2025) expressed his firm belief that statehood would be restored in Jammu and Kashmir and said that the sooner it is done, the better it would be. He asserted that statehood is an absolute necessity for the development and progress of the region. Azad also played down speculation about him being nominated for the Vice-President's post and asked the media and people to stop resorting to such rumours. "I am thankful to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister for promising that statehood will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir. I firmly believe that they will return the statehood. But the sooner it is done, the better it will be," Mr. Azad told reporters during a visit to Jammu's Reasi district. Responding to a question, Azad said, "For the development, progress and the overall betterment of the region, statehood is absolutely necessary. This is not a matter of Hindu or Muslim, or of Kashmir or Jammu; it concerns every party, religion, and community. Statehood is essential for all political parties, whether the BJP, National Conference or PDP." He said the statehood restoration should happen at the earliest. "When I was a minister, I had recommended the conversion of three Union Territories into states, and all the three were granted statehood. But, for the first time, I saw my own state being turned into a Union Territory. That was an unfortunate event." Replying to another query, he said that Article 370 and statehood are two different things. "Our immediate demand is for the restoration of statehood. I have already spoken extensively in Parliament about Article 370. You and the entire media have heard it." He reiterated his earlier statement that statehood can be reinstated only if Prime Minister Narendra Modi brings a bill in Parliament or the Supreme Court reviews the matter and gives a verdict. On speculation of him being elevated to the post of Vice-President, Azad said that these are all just assumptions. "Look, there are several good things that are unique to Jammu and Kashmir, which is why it is called the Paradise on Earth. But there are also a lot of rumours being peddled here. I request people and the media — please stop spreading them." Mr. Azad pointed out that there are important works to be done in Jammu and Kashmir. "It needs to have its statehood back, development works should be carried out, unemployment needs to be eliminated. Finding solutions to these issues should be the priority," he said. He suggested that the media and people focus on constructive things so that Jammu and Kashmir can progress. "Who even has the time to keep spreading rumours? Here, one day someone is made something, and the next day it is someone else. This goes on," he said.
The Wire
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Wire
July 13 in Kashmir: On Federalised Historiography and the Silent Challenge to Federalism
In a bizarre turn of events, the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir effectively placed the elected government officials, including the chief minister, under house arrest on July 13, as aptly described by one local daily as an instance of 'government locking up government'. The supposed trigger for this action by the LG was the fear that the elected government and the public might commemorate July 13 as Martyrs' Day, an official holiday until 2019, which was discontinued following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution. Meanwhile, the BJP's Leader of Opposition has endorsed the LG's actions and branded the 22 people killed by the Dogra ruler in 1931 (in whose memory Martyrs' Day is observed) as traitors. Beyond the political wrangling over what was undoubtedly a watershed moment in the modern history of J&K, and the constitutionally suspect nature of the actions taken by the Lieutenant Governor, the events unfolding in J&K have implications not only for federalised historiography but also for federalism itself, and should therefore concern other states as well. A monolithic past? The first issue with the BJP's actions in J&K is related to its conception of nationalist history and identity. In the BJP's attempts to advance a monolithic version of anti-colonial nationalism, it fails to appreciate that anti-colonial resistance was not a simplistic binary of the coloniser and the colonised, with the latter automatically becoming part of the Indian national movement. In the princely states, for instance, these movements were not necessarily aimed directly at the British, for British rule was not direct in these regions. Consequently, the princely rulers became the primary targets of such movements seeking self-governance, which could not, therefore, be neatly subsumed within the broader Indian national movement. This is what the moment of July 13, 1931, represents in the official histories of J&K, as one of the first major expressions of protest against the Dogra rule. Over time, this moment came to be imbued with broader political meaning, symbolising the demand for self-governance, and ultimately becoming embedded in the region's collective memory as a marker of its autonomous political identity and constitutional status. Simply because it does not align with the BJP's conception of the anti-colonial movement and nationalism, the day has been removed from the list of official holidays, and those who were killed have been branded as traitors. The issue is not merely that the 22 individuals killed on July 13, 1931, were Muslims. The issue at stake here is what the 22 people have come to represent in the official histories - a distinct political trajectory in J&K, one closely tied to the region's demand for autonomy. That is why they cannot be neatly subsumed into the nationalist narrative of the past that the BJP aims to construct. Rather, their memory poses a challenge to this brand of nationalist history, which is why it must either be banished or, worse, recast as treacherous. This explains why, in a context where Article 370 is increasingly projected as anti-India, the BJP can simultaneously appropriate someone like Maqbool Sherwani as pro-Indian while erasing the history of Martyrs' Day in Kashmir. This, of course, is riddled with absurdities. The BJP's attempt to excise from J&K's past what it retrospectively deems anti-national and treacherous, in order to produce a monolithic account of nationalist history, is historically untenable. But there is another problem here. This monolithic account of the past allows the BJP to fashion a monistic legal order i.e, fashioning the post-colonial in unitary terms and producing an account of anti-colonial history in the service of this legal order, which brings me to the question of constitutional federalism. The federal argument Nationalist history is not solely a concern of historiography; it is deeply imbricated with constitutionalism, particularly how federal units draw on history in fashioning their sense of self and political identity. July 13 was designated an official state holiday by the government led by Sheikh Abdullah, and in J&K's federated constitutional framework, came to symbolise the region's distinct constitutional identity. Following the reading down of Article 370, the BJP swiftly moved to integrate J&K by applying previously inapplicable laws to the region. However, this project of unification extends beyond the legal domain into the realm of history itself. Any historical moment (Martyrs' Day as well as Sheikh Abdullah's birthday) that has come to represent J&K's Article 370-inflected trajectory is being systematically erased, as part of a broader effort to impose homogeneity not only in the constitutional framework but also in the historical narrative now being constructed by the BJP government. That is, even in its abrogation, it is the spectre of Article 370 that haunts the BJP – hence the erasure of history. But these events or historical moments constitute more than temporal landmarks; they are central to how individual federal units understand, construct, and express their identities. It is appropriate in a federal polity for units to have a distinct imagination of history and a sense of self that is not derivative of the central government. The policies of the BJP are such that the self-conception of federal units will have to conform to the central government's imposing vision of the Indian nation and the state. Consequently, the federal units will be relegated to the status of appendages of the central government, with their existence deemed meaningful only insofar as it aligns with the centre's vision. This undermines, to the extent of even negating the possibility of the federal units cultivating sub-national identities that might diverge from the narrative set by the central government. All this is done, it must be noted, without formally altering the powers of the governments of the federal units. Constitutional debates on federalism in India have for long treated it as a matter of power-sharing between the states and the centre when in fact it also bears on questions such as self-conception of federal units, constitutional identity, and history. The actions of the BJP reflect a broader tendency on the part of the central government to impose a particular historical-cultural narrative upon federal units and consequently, shape their political identity and sense of self. This goes beyond the traditional debates on Indian federalism, raising constitutional concerns that involve a deeper contestation over the very imagination of India as a nation-state. For such practices of the central government fundamentally erode the principles of federalism and present a new challenge compared to those faced under previous central governments. Zaid Deva is a DPhil candidate with the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford. click here.
Indian Express
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Not here to beg, it is our right: Farooq on statehood demand
Demanding that J&K's statehood be restored immediately, former CM Farooq Abdullah said Wednesday that the 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 was 'illegal' and 'unconstitutional' and emphasised that the distance between Delhi and Kashmir 'has never reduced'. At a public meeting, organised by the Forum for Human Rights in J&K, in Delhi, Abdullah, who is also the NC president, said, 'Whether it is Article 370 or statehood, the basic issue is that the distance between Delhi and Kashmir has never reduced. From the day we became part of India, that distance has only grown. There is no trust — there is no trust in the Muslim.' On the demand for statehood, he said: 'We are not here to beg. It is our right as Indians. Restore our statehood. What you've done is unconstitutional. The governor himself said he didn't know the law — is this how you dismantle a state?' 'Today, we are looked at through the lens of what language we speak, which religion we belong to. This is not my India. Despite sharing a religious identity with Pakistan, we chose Gandhi. I wish those leaders could rise from their graves to see what India has become…' Abdullah said. J&K Deputy CM Surinder Choudhary described the region's current status as: 'India calls J&K its head — but that head has suffered a serious injury.' 'I still don't understand under what law a state has been turned into a municipality,' he said. Referring to the Supreme Court judgment upholding Article 370 abrogation, Congress MP Manish Tewari said, 'The SC said the proper procedure was not followed in removing Article 370, but still upheld it… This is a judgment that needs to be reviewed.' CPI(M) leader Yusuf Tarigami said, 'What is the condition of our Assembly? On July 13, the CM was locked up. The homes of elected representatives were bolted. Has such a thing ever happened anywhere else?'
New Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
NC President Farooq Abdullah calls for immediate restoration of J&K statehood
NEW DELHI: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday made a strong pitch for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood, calling the 2019 abrogation of Article 370 'unjust and unlawful.' Speaking at the 'Statehood Now' public meeting at the Constitution Club of India here Abdullah voiced serious concern over the state of democracy and rising divisions in the country. The event was organised by the Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir. 'Who gave you the right to take away our statehood? Did you ask the people? Was the assembly in session?' he asked, referring to the Centre's move to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special status. He also cited a recent interview in which the then Governor of J&K admitted he was unaware of the constitutional process at the time. 'Even the then Governor admitted he didn't know the law,' Abdullah added. 'We are not here to bow. We are not here to beg. It is our right as Indians under the Constitution of India. What you have done is illegal. Restore our statehood,' he said. Abdullah warned that the situation in Kashmir could become a precedent for other parts of the country. '..We want our rights. We fight for our rights. We came here to ask for it. Many people who spoke here said rightly said Kashmir is the testing ground. That will be the fate of many other states very soon. I hope that doesn't happen.' He added: 'For that we all have to stand together.' He also criticised what her termed as growing polarisation and marginalisation of vulnerable communities in the country. 'This is not the India I grew up in, and I'm not going to accept this as my India,' he said. 'I want an India where we exist as equals, love each other, and rise above religion, region, and language.' Abdullah said: 'The Constitution gives every Indian the right to vote and live with dignity, regardless of background. Those values are now under threat.' Calling for unity and collective resolve, Abdullah said' 'It's our country. If we don't defend it and our Constitution, what will we tell our children?.' He ended his speech with a Jai Hind.
