New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday moved a resolution in the Union Territory’s Legislative Assembly seeking the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
While introducing the resolution, Abdullah referred to what he described as a three step process involving delimitation, Assembly elections and restoration of statehood. He said the first two stages had been completed and that statehood was now the remaining step.
Abdullah said people of Jammu and Kashmir had participated in the electoral process and that the government had continued to wait for the promised restoration of statehood. He also referred to assurances that he said had been made in Parliament and before the Supreme Court.
The resolution was moved amid an uproar in the Assembly, with BJP legislators protesting its contents. According to reports, BJP members objected particularly to a reference to a 2000 resolution on autonomy. Some members entered the Well of the House and tore copies of the resolution.
The latest move follows repeated demands from Abdullah for the restoration of J&K’s statehood. Earlier this month, he reiterated that the Centre had indicated that statehood would follow delimitation and elections, while noting that the commitment had not been given in writing.
The demand also builds on a resolution adopted by Abdullah’s Cabinet in October 2024 seeking restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood in its original form. The resolution was subsequently cleared by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
The latest Assembly resolution places the statehood issue back at the centre of proceedings in the elected J&K legislature, with the government seeking its restoration through a formal appeal to the Union government.
