Wishing Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday reiterated his demand to restore statehood, saying all they have received so far on the matter were verbal assurances.
PM Modi celebrated his 76th birthday on Thursday, September 17.
"What can I say as to what he (Modi) does… If nothing else, let him grant us statehood; what else could we want?" Abdullah said, when asked about what announcement he expected today, news agency PTI reported.
The J&K CM was in Amritsar for the inauguration of renovated heritage building of the Jammu & Kashmir House on Court Road.
“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 was quoted as saying, as 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 Centre's verbal assurances," Abdullah said.
{{/usCountry}}"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 Centre's verbal assurances," Abdullah said.
{{/usCountry}}Abdullah said 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.
The Centre on August 5, 2019, scrapped 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 and Ladakh.
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.
In July, when Abdullah announced a fresh phase of its campaign for the restoration of statehood, he had said the the National Conference had exhausted its patience and would now intensify its movement by taking the demand directly to the national capital, news agency PTI reported.
"Enough is enough! There will be no more waiting!" Abdullah had declared before a large gathering of party workers.
Later that month, Abdullah said that statehood was an imperative or basic need for restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, stressing that Article 370 restoration is meaningless without statehood.
“We are seeking the base i.e statehood from this government. And Article 370 ( restoration) is meaningless without statehood,” Omar said at a press conference after he and party leaders’ returned from Delhi following a protest seeking restoration of J&K’s statehood.