Amritsar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday reiterated his demand to restore J&K’s statehood, saying all they have received so far on the matter were verbal assurances.
Talking to media persons here, Abdullah also wished Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 76th birthday, saying, “We wish him on his birthday.”
Asked what announcement he expected today, Abdullah said, “What can I say as to what he (Modi) does… If nothing else, let him grant us statehood; what else could we want?”
Abdullah was in Amritsar to inaugurate the renovated heritage building of the Jammu & Kashmir House on Court Road.
Asked about statehood, Abdullah said, “You all know what happened with us. We were told that statehood would be restored after the (J&K) elections. But nothing was given in writing; only verbal assurances were given.”
He also advised the leadership of Ladakh not to rely on the Centre’s verbal assurances regarding their struggle for constitutional safeguards with regard to land and jobs.
“Hence, I suggest to people and friends in Ladakh not to trust the Centre’s words… Rather, have them in writing. We did not get anything in writing, and we are at the same place today. J&K has been a victim of the BJP-led Centre’s verbal assurances,” the chief minister said.
Abdullah noted that the Centre had outlined a three-step process – delimitation, Assembly elections and the restoration of statehood.
“Even in Parliament and in the Supreme Court, this assurance was given. While we saw delimitation and elections in J&K, in which people participated, statehood has not been restored even till now,” he said.
On August 5, 2019, the Centre revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two Union territories – J-K with a legislative assembly with limited powers and Ladakh without one.
In December 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the Centre’s decision to revoke the special status and create the two UTs but told the government to restore J&K’s statehood as soon as possible.
