Srinagar, Dec 5: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said he will again take up the issue of restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“The prime minister and the home minister were busy with elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. But now that they have time, this issue will be taken up so that J-K’s statehood is restored soon,” Abdullah told reporters after attending a function to commemorate the 42nd foundation day of SKIMS Hospital here.
The foundation for the tertiary care hospital was laid on the birth anniversary of National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on this day in 1982, less than three months after his demise.
Asked if the holiday on the NC founder’s birth anniversary will be restored, the chief minister said there are many things that need to be brought back in Jammu and Kashmir, but the priority is to restore its statehood first.
“There are many other dates as well, but we have to fight a bigger contest. We have to fight for the restoration of J-K’s statehood. We are hopeful that the prime minister will keep his promise made not to us, but to the people of J-K during the Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly polls that followed,” Omar said.
“The elections saw huge participation of people. There were no complaints of people being forcibly taken to the booths. Rather, they went on their own and made the elections a huge success with the hope that the promises made to them, especially on restoring J-K’s statehood, will be fulfilled,” the chief minister said.
In October, Omar Abdullah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and handed over a cabinet resolution seeking early restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
Omar Abdullah in his first cabinet meeting had passed a resolution on restoration of J&K’s statehood. “Visited Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji in New Delhi to present a cabinet resolution advocating for the reinstatement of Jammu and Kashmir’s empowered statehood. The resolution underscores the J&K government’s dedication to safeguarding the identity and constitutional rights of the region’s residents,” J&K chief minister Omar had written on his Instagram while sharing his picture with Prime Minister Modi.
After returning, he said that his meetings in Delhi were very successful and that he got “assurances from the highest level on the change in the Governance Model of the J&K.”
Chief Minister said that he had just arrived from New Delhi after having “very successful meetings there.” “I got assurances from the highest level in Delhi on the change in J&K’s governance model,” Omar said.
On August 5, 2019, the BJP-led government in the Centre divided the erstwhile State of J&K into two UTs—J&K and Ladakh. The Centre also rolled back Article 370.