NC Invites Political Parties to Protest in New Delhi for Restoration of Statehood in Jammu and Kashmir

SRINAGAR: The ruling National Conference (NC) has decided to invite all constituents of the INDIA bloc and political parties of Jammu and Kashmir to participate in its proposed protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on the opening day of the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament. The protest seeks the restoration of statehood to the Union Territory. A NC spokesman said the party’s senior leaders met party president Farooq Abdullah at his Gupar residence today to review and finalise arrangements for the party's proposed protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. The NC president, Farooq Abdullah, would be sending invitations to leaders of parties that are not part of the INDIA bloc, too, provided they are not aligned with the NDA. "Formal invitation letters will be sent to all political parties in J&K. Abdullah will personally write to their respective leaders inviting them to join the protest in New Delhi,” the NC spokesman said. It is unlikely that Kashmir-based opposition parties, including PDP, Apni Party and Peoples Conference, would participate in NC’s protest given their political differences with the ruling party. The decision to stage a protest in New Delhi was announced on June 3 after a meeting of NC Conference MLAs, MPs and independent legislators supporting the government. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the party's vice-president, had declared that the NC legislature party would hold a protest in the national capital on the opening day of Parliament's Monsoon session to press for the restoration of statehood and constitutional guarantees for Jammu and Kashmir. The move is being seen as the first indication of the Omar government's assertive political stance on a long-pending demand for restoration of statehood. On June 8, Omar raised the issue during a meeting of INDIA bloc leaders in New Delhi and urged opposition parties to join the proposed protest in New Delhi and support the demand for restoring Jammu and Kashmir's statehood. The Omar cabinet, in its first meeting in October 2024, passed a resolution calling for the restoration of statehood to J&K in its original form. The restoration of statehood, according to the cabinet resolution, will be the beginning of a healing process, reclaiming the constitutional rights and protecting the identity of the people of J&K. After the passage of the cabinet resolution, Omar handed over copies of the resolution demanding early restoration of statehood to J&K to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other central leaders. Notably, there has been no improvement on the issue so far.