New Delhi: Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday, urging his government to introduce a legislation to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir during the monsoon session of Parliament.
Their push comes at a time when political tensions are rising in Srinagar, with Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah clashing with Lt Governor Manoj Sinha over matters of jurisdiction—a marked shift from the relative diffidence that had characterised much of his eight-month tenure so far.
“For the past five years, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have consistently called for the restoration of statehood. This demand is both legitimate and firmly grounded in their constitutional and democratic rights. It is important to recognise that while there have been instances of Union Territories being granted statehood in the past, the case of Jammu and Kashmir is without precedent in independent India,” states the joint letter penned by Rahul and Kharge.
With six MLAs in the 90-member legislative assembly, Congress is a member of Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling alliance led by National Conference. However, of late, the ties between the two parties have been frosty with Abdullah disapproving of the Congress’s allegations on EVM tampering, and the rudderless state of the INDIA bloc.
Even on Monday, when various opposition parties criticised the L-G’s administration for using security forces in an attempt to physically prevent Abdullah from visiting the Naqshband Sahib graveyard in Srinagar to pay tribute to those killed by the Dogra army in 1931, the Congress national leadership remained silent.
The party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit president, Tariq Hameed Karra, had however condemned the incident. In their letter, Rahul and Kharge did not refer to Monday’s events, but reminded the PM of his promise to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, which was made a Union Territory in August 2019 along with the abrogation of Article 370, under which it enjoyed special status.
Since then, the Congress has tip-toed around the demand for the restoration of Article 370—from criticising the manner in which it was abrogated at times to arguing that the Supreme Court upholding the Centre’s move has effectively put a lid on the matter.
The party has been consistently demanding statehood be returned to Jammu and Kashmir, which Rahul and Kharge reiterated in their letter.
The two leaders mentioned that the Union government made assurances before the Supreme Court in a matter regarding Article 370, submitting that statehood would be restored ‘at the earliest and as soon as possible’.
A request was also put forth to include the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, which provides autonomy and self-governance to the Scheduled Tribes in the hilly regions of the Northeast. “This would be a significant step towards addressing the cultural, developmental, and political aspirations of the people of Ladakh, while safeguarding their rights, land, and identity,” they said in the letter.
(Edited by Shashank Kishan)
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