New Delhi/Srinagar, July 20 (JKNS): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said the Central government had “forced” the National Conference (NC) to stage a protest in New Delhi by failing to honour its promise of restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, asserting that statehood remains the first priority, followed by implementation of the Assembly resolution on Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and constitutional rights.
Addressing reporters in the national capital, as per news agency JKNS, CM Omar Abdullah said the Centre had been reminded for over two years to fulfil the assurances made in Parliament and before the Supreme Court regarding restoration of statehood.
“The Central government has forced us to come to Delhi and protest. For the past two and a quarter years, we have only been reminding them to fulfil the promises made to the people in Parliament and the Supreme Court,” Omar Abdullah said.
Reaffirming the party’s political stand, the Chief Minister said the National Conference would continue pursuing its constitutional agenda.
“In the first Assembly session, we passed a resolution on Jammu and Kashmir’s special position, special status and constitutional rights. We are not leaving that agenda,” he said.
Omar Abdullah underlined that restoration of statehood would precede all other political and constitutional issues.
“The purpose of today’s protest is to remind the Central government of its promise. Statehood comes first. After statehood, we will take forward the Assembly resolution on Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and constitutional rights,” he said.
Later, in a post on X, Omar Abdullah said the party’s peaceful protest had been obstructed, but its resolve remained unshaken.
“We were stopped from getting to Jantar Mantar and stopped from protesting peacefully for what is rightfully ours, but we were not silenced. This is only the beginning of our struggle for statehood, our rights, our dignity and everything that was taken away from us,” he wrote. (JKNS)
