The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP has rejected the proposal of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti to jointly fight for the restoration of statehood to the Union Territory.
“Neither have we received any formal proposal in this regard, nor will we join any such joint effort for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir,” said J&K BJP president Sat Sharma. He said that instead of adopting an agitational path, all political parties should have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured on the floor of Parliament that statehood will be restored to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time,” Sharma said, adding, “We must have faith in the union government.”
Sharma argued that, following the failure of the government to fulfil the promises made in its election manifesto, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was raising the issue of statehood to hide his shortcomings.
“Even without the restoration of statehood, the Omar Abdullah government has sufficient powers to address the day-to-day problems of the people,” he said. However, he regretted that the present dispensation was looking for excuses to conceal what he described as its complete failure to govern the Union Territory.
CM asks all political parties to suspend their identities
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday proposed suspending party identities and launching a collective democratic movement for the restoration of the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking at a function, Omar said, “If everyone is sincere, let us suspend political parties and stand together on a common movement platform. We should fight democratically and peacefully until the constitutional rights and protections taken away in 2019 are restored.”
The Chief Minister said he would be willing to make personal political sacrifices if such a united movement emerged.
“I will be the first one to resign. Let representatives come from a common movement platform,” he said.
He stressed that any effort to regain rights must be consistent and not limited to symbolic gestures.
“People will call it a drama if there is no sincerity and continuity. It cannot be a one-off exercise. Continuous efforts are needed to build public trust,” he said.
Mehbooba appeals to all political parties to jointly fight for J&K’s rights
On June 2, PDP president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti appealed to political parties across the ideological spectrum, including the BJP, Congress, National Conference, CPI(M), People’s Conference, AAP, and other regional groups, as well as representatives of civil society, to come together and launch a coordinated outreach to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister.
Drawing parallels with Ladakh, Mehbooba said that political parties and civil society groups there had successfully united under common platforms such as the Ladakh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance to pursue issues concerning the region through dialogue with the Central Government.
Mehbooba wrote to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Sunil Sharma, J&K Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, People’s Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone, Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid, AAP J&K president Mehraj Malik, PDF chairman Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, J&K National Panthers Party president Harsh Dev Singh, Shiv Sena (J&K unit) president Manish Sahni, Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti president Sanjay Tickoo, and Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee chairman Jaspal Singh.
In her communication, Mehbooba proposed a united political initiative aimed at reviving meaningful dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir. She argued that a collective voice was essential to effectively represent the aspirations, grievances, and concerns of the people at the national level.
The former Chief Minister maintained that Jammu and Kashmir was once again at a critical juncture, marked by growing public despair and disillusionment. She called upon political leaders to rise above partisan interests and work towards building a broad-based consensus to address the region’s challenges.
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