Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday announced that the National Conference will launch a new phase of its campaign to reclaim the state, with a protest in New Delhi on July 20 after what he described as nearly two years of waiting for the Center to fulfill its promise.
Addressing a large public gathering at Maharaja Hari Singh Park in Jammu city, Abdullah said the party has exhausted its patience and will now intensify its movement by taking the demand directly to the national capital, PTI reported.
“No more waiting”
The meeting, his first major public gathering in Jammu in several years, gained significance as it was held in what is considered a BJP stronghold.
“That’s enough! There will be no more waiting!” Abdullah made the announcement to a large crowd of party workers.
The demonstration came a day after the National Congress held a workers’ conference at Abdullah’s ancestral shrine in Hazratbal district on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the death of his grandmother, Akbar Jehan. Abdullah presented her with flowers amidst loud slogans and a sea of party flags demanding the restoration of the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir.
A large banner at the conference venue read, “Delhi chalo! We want our state,” while supporters carried placards with slogans such as “Hamri risat, hamri chan” and “Hamri risat, hamra haq.”
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Abdullah said the party’s restraint was misinterpreted as weakness.
He added: “Our morals have been taken for granted, our silence has been viewed as weakness, and our patience has been tested beyond its limits.”
He said that the National Congress endured criticism, accusations, and what he described as repeated conspiracies against the party before it decided to take its campaign to the streets.
According to Abdullah, the Center has been given sufficient time to restore the state after the House elections.
“We have given the central government enough time. For almost two years, we have followed one approach. Now we will adopt a new strategy. That new phase will begin on July 20, when we will meet in Delhi and raise our voice to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Abdullah described the establishment of the state as a constitutional right and not a concession, and said that the issue extends beyond his party.
“This is not just a National Conference issue; it is about every party contesting the 2024 Assembly elections. Show me one BJP MLA who told voters that the party will oppose statehood. They sought votes that promise restoration,” he said.
The Prime Minister questioned the Centre’s repeated assurances that the state would be restored in “time”, questioning what that timeline actually means.
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“Every time we ask when Jammu and Kashmir will be restored to statehood, we get the same vague response: ‘It will happen at the right time’. But no one explains what that means or when that time will come. Are they waiting for the BJP to form the government here? If that is their position, they should say so openly,” he said.
He said the National Conference accepted the demarcation process even though he believed it favored the BJP and ran in the elections regardless of what he described as attempts to divide political parties and influence the outcome.
He added: “The government must now fulfill its obligations.”
Defending the decision to hold the protest in Delhi, Abdullah said the demand was raised in the Indian capital because that is where decisions related to Jammu and Kashmir are taken.
“Should we go to Trump?”
Responding to the BJP’s criticism, Abdullah said his party has consistently raised the issue of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir in the Assembly and will now continue the campaign in Delhi.
He added, “So what do they expect us to do? Should we go to America and protest in front of (US President Donald) Trump or outside the White House in an effort to establish the state of Jammu and Kashmir? We are only demanding the fulfillment of the promise we made in our country, in the capital of our country.”
The NCP leader accused the BJP of using the statehood issue as a political tool instead of fulfilling what he called a constitutional obligation.
Abdullah confirmed that the campaign would continue, and said that the party would continue to put pressure on the Center to fulfill its obligations.
“We will continue to knock on the doors of our country’s capital. We will continue to remind the country’s leadership of the promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We only ask that those promises be respected,” he said.
He said that the July 20 demonstration would mark the official start of the unrest after the dialogue failed to achieve results.
(With inputs from PTI)
