time-to-restore-j-k-statehood

Recently, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah was seen scuffling with the cops of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, who were trying to prevent him from reaching the “martyrs’ graveyard” in the capital city of Srinagar. He was supposed to pay tributes to the “martyrs” of July 13, 1931, when several Kashmiris were allegedly killed in police firing as they were protesting against the rule of Maharaja Hari Singh.

 

The cops could stop Omar only because Jammu and Kashmir is a Union Territory and the police there are under the control of the Union Home Ministry, and not the UT government. This was a telling statement made by the JK CM that he has no control over the police of his own UT.

 

On August 5, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir will complete six years with a diminished status of a Union Territory. It was on August 5, 2019, when the Government of India abrogated the Article 370 of the Constitution of India and broke the state into two Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir and a separate Union Territory for the Ladakh region.

 

The Government of India has promised to restore the statehood of JK. The Supreme Court of India, while upholding the abrogation of the Article 370 has also directed for the restoration of statehood. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also committed it. Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, which is in power there after winning the 2024 assembly elections, has been insisting on the restoration of statehood. So is the Congress, which has made it a point to raise the matter in the coming Monsoon session of the Parliament. Then why delay?

 

Omar is not known for indulging in any sort of theatrics. Despite being relatively young in age, from the Indian standards, he has always conducted himself as a mature and a seasoned leader. He is also known for taking pragmatic positions even if it means going contrary to the stand taken by his allies or colleagues.

 

The July 13 incident was obviously symbolic, aimed at conveying an important and a strong message that how an elected Chief Minister of an important place like Jammu and Kashmir cannot exercise his free will in doing what he wants to do. The message did get carried across to the right quarters. Omar has made a strong case for statehood that has been promised to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

 

Union Territory governments across the country, even the elected ones, like in Delhi or Pondicherry are like that. They do not have law and order, and police under their control, which in itself is an administrative handicap for them. Jammu and Kashmir in any case is unlike other Union Territories. In fact, Jammu and Kashmir has at one time been an autonomous state ruled by the Dogra dynasty, before the independence of the country.

 

Restoring the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir should be a priority for the government of India. What has been promised to people of India and also directed by the Supreme Court of India should be granted to them. This will further help building up the trust and confidence of the people there.

 

People of Jammu and Kashmir have reconciled to the reality that the Article 370, which till August 5, 2019, they believed could never be abrogated, can never be restored. No political party in the country can now afford to even fiddle with the idea.

 

So much so, the Congress has also abandoned the idea although it had always opposed the abrogation. The Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said it on record that the abrogation of the Article 370 was a closed chapter, which cannot be undone. This reality has also been registered in the minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. 

 

But the people of Jammu and Kashmir do expect the restoration of statehood and nobody should have any objection to that. Let Jammu and Kashmir be like any other state in the country, legally and Constitutionally, on par. The BJP government at the centre does deserve the credit for removing the anomalies by abrogating Article 370. Restoring the statehood will mean restoring the confidence of the people of the erstwhile state. 

 

While the people of Jammu and Kashmir do agree and accept that abrogation of Article 370 brings them on par with the people of the rest of the country, denial of statehood makes them feel discriminated against as lesser citizens of the country. Because they feel something they possessed has been taken away from them, which they deserve to be given back. Sooner the government of India does it, the better it would be for everyone.