Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah moved a resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Friday demanding the immediate and urgent restoration of full statehood, telling the House that the region had been promised a clear three-step sequence: delimitation, elections and, finally, the return of statehood.
Abdullah brought the resolution after Question Hour, as the Assembly descended into noisy scenes with BJP members protesting the move. The text calls on the Government of India to restore full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and directs that the resolution be forwarded to the Union Government for action.
Laying out the sequence of commitments made to the region, Abdullah said delimitation had been completed and Assembly elections had already taken place, leaving statehood as the one step still outstanding. He argued that the current resolution builds on the Assembly’s earlier positions, referencing resolutions passed on June 26, 2000, and November 6, 2024, while placing a renewed and urgent demand before the Centre.
The November 2024 resolution, passed during the House’s first session after the elections that year, had sought restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and constitutional guarantees. Friday’s resolution is narrower in scope, focusing specifically on the restoration of full statehood rather than the broader constitutional questions raised earlier.
The move triggered visible disruption in the Assembly, with BJP legislators protesting loudly and, according to reports from within the House, tearing up copies of the resolution. Competing slogans and protests continued as the statehood question dominated the day’s proceedings.
Statehood has remained a central demand of the Omar Abdullah government since it took office in October 2024, with the Cabinet adopting its own resolution on the issue soon after being sworn in. The Chief Minister has repeatedly pointed to assurances that statehood would follow the Assembly elections, reiterating the position as recently as September 17 in Amritsar, where he said delimitation and elections were complete and that statehood remained the final, pending step.
Friday’s resolution formally places that demand before the Union Government through the elected legislature, seeking a full restoration rather than any partial arrangement. It was taken up as part of the List of Business for the Assembly’s sixth session, which runs from September 21 to September 30 and includes several other legislative and public-interest matters.
It is recorded in history!
The resolution demanded restoration of the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir as it existed before 9 August 1953 and greater autonomy. However, it was rejected by the Union Cabinet headed by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Thus, this day is remembered as a significant constitutional attempt to restore autonomy in the political history of Jammu and Kashmir.
