Avinash Azad
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah on Friday turned the demand for restoration of full statehood into a direct political challenge to the BJP, asking Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma and BJP legislators to make their position clear on the floor of the Assembly.
Omar was speaking after moving a resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly calling upon the Government of India for the “immediate and urgent restoration of full statehood” to Jammu and Kashmir. The resolution also refers to earlier resolutions passed by the House in 2000 and 2024.
The reference to the “June 26, 2000 autonomy resolution” immediately became the flashpoint in the House, with BJP members objecting to its inclusion in the fresh statehood resolution. The BJP has maintained that it is ready to debate restoration of full statehood but will not allow discussion on Article 370 or the 2000 autonomy resolution.
Omar, however, said the issue should now be settled through a debate and vote in the Assembly rather than statements outside it. “If you have the numbers, vote against the resolution. If you don’t have the numbers, say that you don’t have them,” Omar said, challenging the BJP to demonstrate its position in the House.
Taking a direct swipe at Sunil Sharma, Omar questioned whether the BJP was genuinely committed to restoration of statehood. He said that if the BJP supports statehood, its legislators should participate in the discussion and vote accordingly rather than staying away from the proceedings. The Chief Minister said restoration of statehood was not an issue belonging to either the Treasury benches or the Opposition. “Statehood is neither of this side nor that side. It is not only of this House. If there is statehood, then it is of the whole of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Omar also reminded the House of the sequence of “delimitation, elections and restoration of statehood”, saying that the first two steps had already been completed and that statehood remained the pending commitment. “There was an election. People took part in the election. And they took part willingly,” he said, arguing that people had participated in the electoral process with the expectation that statehood would follow.
The Chief Minister also invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earlier commitment on the issue, describing it as a promise made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “Today, through this House, we want to remind the Government of India that something should be done about your promises,” Omar said.
He further said that the statehood demand had been raised with the Centre at different forums and that the Assembly resolution was another formal reminder. Defending the reference to the 2000 and 2024 resolutions, Omar said the fresh resolution was carefully worded and did not replace or withdraw any earlier decision of the House. “This resolution neither replaces them, nor substitutes them, nor ignores them. This resolution is in addition to those resolutions,” he said.
The wording of the resolution states that, in addition to the resolutions passed by the House on June 26, 2000 and November 6, 2024, the Assembly calls upon the Government of India for the immediate and urgent restoration of full statehood to J&K and resolves to forward the resolution to the Centre.
The inclusion of the 2000 resolution, which dealt with greater autonomy for the erstwhile state, was opposed by BJP legislators and led to disruptions in the House. The BJP members entered the Well and raised slogans during the protest, interrupting proceedings of the house for entire day.
Omar also made it clear that his government was seeking “full statehood”, rejecting the possibility of a truncated arrangement. “What we hear in the media that we will get a half state, we will get a quarter state, we will get a state without law and order. No, we do not want such a state. We have been promised a full state and we want a full state back,” he said.
The Chief Minister also pointed to what he described as limitations faced by the elected government under the present Union Territory arrangement. He cited the Power Development Corporation and Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), saying there were areas where the elected government does not exercise the same decision-making authority that would be available under full statehood.
Omar said he would place more such examples before the House during the debate. The confrontation over the resolution has exposed a clear political divide inside the Assembly: while the BJP says it is prepared to discuss full statehood, it objects to bringing the 2000 autonomy resolution and Article 370 into that discussion. Omar, meanwhile, is insisting that the statehood demand be debated and decided by the House, while also challenging the BJP to vote on the resolution.
