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JK News Today Analysis
Living up to his word to explore all possibilities for the restoration of Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took a giant step on Thursday when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and underlined the necessity of statehood for the Himalayan territory for overall development and its march with the rest of the country in achieving the national goals.
The meeting assumes significance as it is the second most important step in a little over a week regarding the restoration of statehood for J&K. On June 3rd , Omar Abdullah convened a meeting of National Conference legislators in Dachigam, on the outskirts of Srinagar, where it was decided to stage a peaceful dharna in New Delhi on the opening day of the monsoon session of the Parliament, which in all likelihood is scheduled to be held towards the end of July .
And , exactly a week later, he met the PM and urged him to honour the promises made by his government to the people of J&K regarding the restoration of full statehood to them and their land.
Whether or not Omar spoke in explicit terms about the exact words in which the Prime Minister had promised the statehood ,it is clear that he not only politely reminded PM of his promise but also listed his experience of the past 19 months to push the envelope on statehood .
He has faced difficult times and drawn criticism for his governance issue and his perceived silence on issues he should have addressed , simply because he wanted to maintain cordial relations between the NC government in Srinagar and the BJP-led Centre. Knowing that Delhi alone can redress the grievances, he and his party contested the 2024 polls to provide a local face to the elections . the move went against his previous pledge to stay away from assembly polls as long as Jammu and Kashmir remained a Union Territory. It was a big political sacrifice for the sake of his people, and that lent extraordinary credibility to the polls. This was duly appreciated by the international community in a rare gesture acknowledging vibrant Indian democracy .in Jammu and Kashmir.
Prime Minister had told election rallies in Srinagar, Katra and Jammu during 2024 Assembly polls that “ the “ UT status for J&K is temporary, it will get its full its full statehood back( presumably after the poll.” In fact , Prime Minister mad made this promise during Yoga Day celebrations in Srinagar in June 2024. Earlier,
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced the restoration of the statehood to J&K on the floor of Lok Sabha on August 6, 2019 – a day after initiating the process of abrogation of some of the critical clauses of Article 370 in Rajya Sabha. He had stated that the statehood be given to J&K at a right time depending on the stabilization of the situation in the territory that had been in the grip of high voltage Pakistan sponsored terrorism and terrible stone-throwing phenomenon all across the Kashmir valley .
Today’s meeting read with NC’s consistent pleas for the restoration of the statehood in polite terms , indicates that the ruling party is keen on resolving this issue through dialogue , ands not through any confrontation . Dialogue is inbuilt in NC’s plea because it is of firm belief that confrontation with Delhi on any issue harms the people of J&K. The party seems to have learned its lessons from its past experiences . Here, it is worthwhile to remember that in a special session of the Assembly on April 28, 2025, six days after the -Pahalgam massacre of April 22, 2025, in which 26 civilians were killed, Omar had declared that he would not ask for statehood at that point in time , because that was not the time for making this as an issue. It was widely appreciated by the Central leadership.
No when the statehood started appearing distant , Omar has been consistently urging PM and Home Minister to honour their promise on this issue which is critical to improving the quality of governance in the most sensitive regions in the country where satisfaction and sense of belongingness of the people is crucial for the overall sense of the national security and its march in lockstep with the rest of the country toward realization of the goal of “ Viksit Bharat.”
