Omar Abdullah’s Cabinet Passes Resolution On J&K Statehood, PDP Reminds Him Of Article 370 Promise

The Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has passed a resolution for the restoration of statehood in 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 presided over by the Chief Minister and was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and ministers Sakeena Masood Itoo, Javed Ahmad Rana, Javaid Ahmad Dar and Satish Sharma.

“The draft of the resolution has been prepared and the Chief Minister will travel to New Delhi in a couple of days to hand over the draft of the resolution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir,” IANS quoted sources as saying.

Meanwhile, Waheed Para of Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in an X post termed the step a “ratification” of the abrogation of Article 370.

“Omar Abdullah’s first resolution on statehood is nothing less than ratification of the August 5th, 2019 decision. No resolution on Article 370 and scaling down the demand to mere statehood is a huge setback, especially after seeking votes on the promise of restoring Article 370,” Para’s post read.

WHAT NATIONAL CONFERENCE’s MANIFESTO STATED

On August 19 this year, Omar Abdullah, while releasing his party manifesto, had said his party would 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 stay silent on these issues. The Supreme Court (SC) has in the past upheld Article 370 three times. Can’t we expect a situation where the Supreme Court will change its recent decision? The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not accept its defeat despite three orders by the Supreme Court in favour of Article 370. Why should we?” Abdullah had said.

“We are determined to have Statehood restored. The Government of India has already made this promise to the Supreme Court. If it does not restore statehood willingly, we will pursue justice through the court. With statehood, the government of Jammu and Kashmir will have the powers required to fulfil promises,” he had 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 abrogated by the Centre.

BJP ATTACKS OMAR ABDULLAH GOVERNMENT

Meanwhile, the BJP targetted Omar Abdullah over the passage of the resolution and said the Chief Minister was playing a “political stunt”.

Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, BJP’s spokesperson in Jammu and Kashmir, Sunil Sethi, said, “After taking a U-turn on Article 370, Omar Abdullah is now playing a political stunt on the issue of statehood.”

“He (Omar Abdullah) said the Central government led by PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already stated that statehood will be restored at an appropriate time,” Sethi said.

CABINET DOES NOT REFLECT THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE: SAJAD LONE

In an X post on Friday, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone said the cabinet of Jammu and Kashmir does not reflect the will of the people of the Union Territory. He also said he “failed to understand” why the resolution should not have been reserved for Assembly.

“I very humbly state that will of the people of J and K is reflected in the Assembly and not in the cabinet. Cabinet is a majoritarian institution of governance. It does not reflect all shades and opinions as per the will of the people of J and K. All across the country, to the best of my knowledge, Assembly is the proper institution for addressing major issues like that of statehood or Article 370. When the NC Government passed a resolution on autonomy they passed it in the Assembly not through a cabinet resolution. What has changed now. Fail to understand why this resolution should not have been reserved for Assembly,” (sic), Lone’s X post read.

“Would have loved to see which way BJP and other parties vote on statehood and on Article 370 resolution when it is presented in the Assembly. And I am cutting and pasting a few lines out of the NC manifesto for 2024 Assembly elections,” he added.

FAROOQ ABDULLAH CONFIDENT ON STATEHOOD RESTORATION

On Thursday, National Congress president Farooq Abdullah expressed confidence that the Centre would soon restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

“We have talked about statehood before and even today, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear an application seeking 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 that they would need to return to court to present their arguments.

STATEHOOD RESTORATION PLEA IN SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will consider listing a plea seeking time-bound restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for applicants, urged a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that the plea needed an urgent hearing.

The fresh application was filed by Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, an academician, and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a socio-political activist, in Jammu and Kashmir.

On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court had unanimously upheld the revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution and ordered that assembly elections be held there by September 2024. The court had also said that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood should be restored “at the earliest”.