Jammu and Kashmir Assembly backs renewed call for restoration of Statehood

Jammu and Kashmir’s Legislative Assembly has passed a resolution calling on the Government of India to restore full Statehood to the Union Territory immediately. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah brought the resolution during the Assembly’s autumn session. It was put to a vote on September 28 and received the support of 61 of the 90 members, including legislators from the National Conference, Congress, CPI(M), Peoples Democratic Party, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference, Aam Aadmi Party and Awami Ittehad Party.

Abdullah said the resolution was necessary because the Centre had not restored Statehood after Jammu and Kashmir was downgraded in 2019. He also pointed to the Supreme Court’s direction in 2023 that Statehood should be restored “at the earliest” and “as soon as possible”. The Bharatiya Janata Party objected to wording stating that the resolution was in addition to Assembly resolutions passed in 2000 and 2024.

BJP legislators called those references unnecessary and demanded a resolution confined to Statehood. They entered the well of the House and staged walkouts. BJP legislators also moved a motion seeking the removal of Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather.

The 2000 resolution, passed under National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, sought wide-ranging autonomy within India’s Constitution. A separate 2024 resolution addressed special status. The Chief Minister resisted attempts by some National Conference legislators to add references to Article 370, Article 35A and the position before August 5, 2019.

He argued that doing so could prevent BJP members from supporting a unanimous Statehood resolution. Abdullah also said senior officials had advised the Speaker that the resolution concerned a matter before the courts. He argued that the episode itself demonstrated the need to restore Statehood.