The Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has passed a resolution to restore statehood to the Union Territory. News agency IANS quoted official sources as saying that the resolution was passed during the first cabinet meeting on Thursday.
The meeting was chaired by the Chief Minister and attended by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and Sakeena ministers Masood Itoo, Javed Ahmad Rana, Javaid Ahmad Dar and Satish Sharma.
“A draft resolution has been prepared and the Chief Minister will travel to New Delhi in a few days to hand over the draft resolution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir,” IANS quoted him as saying. source as said.
Meanwhile, Waheed Para of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti, in a post X called the move a “ratification” of the cancellation of Article 370.
“Omar Abdullah’s first resolution on statehood is nothing more than the ratification of the decision of August 5, 2019. The absence of a resolution on Article 370 and the reduction of the request for statehood is a big setback, especially after asking for a vote on the promise to restore Article 370,” Para’s writing read.
Omar Abdullah’s first resolution on statehood is nothing less than the ratification of the decision of August 5, 2019. No resolution on Article 370 and reducing the demand for statehood is a big setback, especially after asking for a vote on the promise to restore Article 370.— Waheed Para (@parawahid) October 18, 2024
WHAT DOES NATIONAL CONFERENCE MEAN IN ENGLISH
On August 19 this year, Omar Abdullah, while releasing the party’s manifesto, said that his party will continue the struggle to restore “Article 370 and 35A”.
“We will continue to fight politically for Article 370. The manifesto is an assurance that we will not remain silent on the issue. The Supreme Court (SC) in the past upheld Article 370 three times. Can we not expect a situation where the Supreme Court will change its decision ?The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not accept the defeat despite three orders from the Supreme Court upholding Article 370. Why should we? Abdullah has said.
“We are determined to restore statehood. The government of India has made this promise to the Supreme Court. If it does not restore the state voluntarily, we will seek justice through the courts. With statehood, the government of Jammu and Kashmir will have the necessary powers to fulfill its promise,” he said.
The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was revoked by the Centre.
BJP attacks OMAR ABDULLAH government
Meanwhile, the BJP targeted Omar Abdullah over the resolution and said the Chief Minister was playing a “political stunt”.
Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, BJP spokesperson in Jammu and Kashmir, Sunil Sethi, said, “After doing a U-turn on Article 370, Omar Abdullah is now playing a political stunt on the issue of statehood.”
“He (Omar Abdullah) said that the central government led by PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have said that statehood will be restored in due course,” Sethi said.
THE CABINET DOES NOT REPRESENT THE PEOPLE’S LOVE: SAJAD SAJAD
In an X post on Friday, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone said the Jammu and Kashmir cabinet does not reflect the will of the people of the Union Territory. He also said he “failed to understand” why the resolution was not reserved for the Assembly.
“I humbly state that the will of the people of J and K is reflected in the Assembly and not in the cabinet. The cabinet is a government institution of the majority. It does not reflect all comparisons and opinions as every will of the people of J and K. All throughout the country, for the best of knowledge, the Assembly is the right institution to address the main issues like the state or Article 370. When the NC Government passed the resolution in the Assembly, it was not passed through the cabinet resolution. It failed to understand why this resolution should not be reserved for the Assembly, “(sic), read X Lone’s post.
“I am happy to see how the BJP and other parties vote on the status of the state and on the Article 370 resolution when presented in the Assembly. And I cut and pasted a few lines from the NC manifesto for the 2024 Assembly elections,” he said.
It turns out that the cabinet has approved a resolution on statehood. This is an original newspaper title based out of Jammu. I wonder why the resolution on statehood passed by the cabinet is shrouded in mystery and secrecy – only one newspaper …
— Sajad Lone (@sajadlone) October 18, 2024
FAROOQ ABDULLAH BELIEVED IN THE RESTORATION OF THE COUNTRY
On Thursday, National Congress president Farooq Abdullah expressed confidence that the Center would restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
“We have talked about statehood before and even now, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the application seeking the restoration of Statehood within two months. I am sure the Government of India will soon restore it,” Abdullah said while talking to reporters.
When asked whether the National Conference would raise the issue of Article 370 or pass a resolution against it in the Assembly, Abdullah said he would have to go back to the court to present his arguments.
STATEHOOD RESTORATION SAYINGS IN THE SUPREME COURT
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will consider listing a plea seeking restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, asked the bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that the plea required an urgent hearing.
The new application was filed by Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, an academic, and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a socio-political activist, in Jammu and Kashmir.
On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the repeal of Article 370 of the Constitution and ordered that assembly elections be held in September 2024. The court also said that the state of Jammu and Kashmir should be restored “at the earliest”.
