Congress reminds PM Modi of promise to restore J&K statehood

New Delhi, Jul 23: The Congress on Wednesday announced that it will intensify its movement for the restoration of the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, which has been directed by the Supreme Court of India and repeatedly committed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the people of the erstwhile state.Addressing a press conference at the AICC office here, senior party leaders including party general secretary and J&K CLP leader GA Mir, former MP Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, general secretary in-charge J&K and Ladakh Dr Naseer Hussain and Chief Spokesperson J&K PCC Ravinder Sharma, said that the common man was suffering in the UT as he was being tossed between the Chief Minister’s secretariat and the Raj Bhawan. GA Mir recalled that in June 2021, Prime Minister Modi had called a meeting of the representatives of all the political parties of J&K and suggested delimitation, election and then restoration of statehood — in that order. “Although most of the political representatives had demanded the restoration of statehood before elections, the PM had insisted on delimitation, followed by elections, and then statehood,” he said.The CLP leader pointed out that while the delimitation exercise has been completed with election also held and an elected government in place for the last eleven months, the Government of India (GoI) is yet to fulfil its promise of restoring statehood. “The Congress has, since day one, August 5, 2019, maintained that the statehood to J&K must be restored,” he said. Mir added that Rahul Gandhi, while wrapping up his 4,000 km Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar along with the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, had also committed that the party will ensure restoration of the statehood.The MLA from Dooru thanked the Congress leadership for prioritising the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir during the Monsoon Session.Speaking on the occasion, Dr Naseer Hussain said it was unprecedented that the powers of the elected representatives were with unelected people like the Lieutenant Governor. “Once the powers are restored to the elected government, only then will the people of J&K come to know what sort of scams took place during the regime of unelected people- like the sand and land scams,” he said.Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh disclosed that although the Congress was the coalition partner of the ruling National Conference (NC), the party had taken a principled stand not to join the government till the statehood was restored. “The Congress has made certain promises to people of Jammu and Kashmir, including the restoration of statehood, and it is working towards that by launching a mass movement,” he said.Singh said there was a strange situation in Jammu and Kashmir where an elected CM was being stopped by the J&K Police and prevented from offering prayers. “He is being made helpless. No file moves ahead without the approval of the LG,” he claimed. “This must change, as not only have the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister promised to restore the statehood; even the Supreme Court of India has also directed the same.”The Congress leader further demanded that the Union Territory of Ladakh be made like the UTs of Delhi and Puducherry with its own elected legislature.