J&K CM Abdullah Affirms Protest Plan for Statehood Restoration

SRINAGAR: J&K CM Omar Abdullah Monday said his recent meeting with PM Narendra Modi hasn’t changed his party National Conference’s plans to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on the first day of the Parliament’s monsoon session to press for the restoration of the statehood.

“There is no change in our plan. We remain committed to fulfilling our promises to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Commitments have been made in the Supreme Court, Parliament and at various public functions to restore statehood to J&K. To remind the Centre of these commitments, we will go to Delhi and put forward our views at Jantar Mantar,” the CM told reporters.

He said during his meeting with the PM on June 11, various issues were discussed, including statehood for J&K.

On June 3, Omar had called a meeting of his party’s MLAs and MPs at Dachigam national park on Srinagar’s outskirts for a day-long strategy session that ended with a decision to protest in New Delhi on the opening day of Parliament’s monsoon session demanding restoration of J&K’s statehood.

J&K lost its statehood on Aug 5, 2019, when the Centre abrogated Article 370, revoked the region's special constitutional status and bifurcated the former state into two Union territories, J&K and Ladakh. Since then, parties across Kashmir’s political spectrum, including NC and PDP, have repeatedly demanded restoration of full statehood. Centre has publicly committed to restoring statehood at an appropriate stage, but timeline remains unclear.

On the issue of reservations in jobs and education, the CM said, “We have done everything that was required on our part.” He said the cabinet sub-committee met and prepared its report, which was subsequently approved by the cabinet. “As per procedure, the decision was forwarded to the Lieutenant Governor, who formally referred it to the central government. The Centre sought certain clarifications on the proposal. So, the file was returned to us. The department concerned has prepared responses to all the queries raised. Those responses were finalized a couple of days ago,” Omar said.

He said since the original decision was taken by his cabinet, another cabinet meeting will be convened to approve the replies. “Once approved, the responses will be sent back to the Government of India for consideration,” Omar said.

Reservation is a highly sensitive issue in J&K, where quota is as high as 60%, making it a hot-button issue following the Centre’s decision to add more communities and expand quotas since the 2019 abrogation of special status. Many fear the quotas will be hiked to 70%. Omar’s own party colleague and MP from Srinagar, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, had described it as discriminatory against general category students and candidates. Following protests by students outside Omar’s residence in 2024, the J&K govt had constituted a sub-committee panel under health minister Sakina Itoo.