Omar Abdullah slams delay in IIOJK statehood, says Kashmiris being punished for political choice
Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed acute disappointment over the BJP-led Indian government’s delay in restoring statehood to the territory, questioning whether Kashmiris are being punished for not electing a saffron party chief minister.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in a media interview, Omar Abdullah said it was deeply unfair that the promise of statehood to the people of IIOJK was yet to be fulfilled, adding that the continued delay amounted to deceit and a breach of commitment.
“Is it because the BJP was not allowed to form a government here? Is that why the people of Jammu and Kashmir are being punished?” he asked. He said the matter has been needlessly delayed and no one was able to explain the reasons behind it. “Every time we are told that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood will be restored at the appropriate time, but nobody tells us when the appropriate time is,” he said.
Omar Abdullah said there was no clear indication of what occupied Jammu and Kashmir must do to satisfy New Delhi’s “appropriate time” criteria, leaving the issue of statehood restoration in limbo. “What is the yardstick to measure appropriate time? At least if we knew, we would work towards it. We keep the demand alive and continue to raise it, but it is deeply unfair to the people of J&K that this promise is not being kept,” he said.
He further said that the BJP-led government had repeatedly outlined a three-step roadmap for occupied Jammu and Kashmir — delimitation, elections and statehood. While the first two steps are done, he noted that his government would complete two years in office this October.
The timeline, he stressed, had already gone well beyond the “early” restoration of statehood promised in the Indian parliament and before the Supreme Court.
Referring to a 2023 Supreme Court observation that statehood should be restored “at the earliest”, Omar Abdullah said, “That’s the problem with ‘at the earliest’—it is too vague.”
