5 min readSrinagarJul 11, 2026 07:19 AM IST
Ahead of its protest in New Delhi seeking the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, the ruling National Conference has extended invitations to heads of national political parties within the INDIA bloc, Members of Parliament, political leaders from J&K and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Kashmir’s head cleric.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took office in October 2024 and has since repeatedly urged the Centre to restore statehood to J&K. Alliance partner Congress has also pushed forward with the demand, leading demonstrations across J&K. However, the Centre has not responded to these demands.
These protests mark an escalation of that demand.
On June 4, after a day-long meeting of the NC legislative party, the party decided to hold a protest demonstration in the national capital on the first day of the monsoon session, seeking the restoration of statehood and J&K’s “constitutional guarantees.”
The 52 invitees from the party include Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president MK Stalin, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav, Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president C. Joseph Vijay, among others.
In J&K, the NC has invited BJP state unit president Sat Sharma, PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, Pradesh Congress chief Tariq Karra, Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari, People’s Conference president Sajad Lone, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Grand Mufti Nasir ul Islam.
NC president Farooq Abdullah has urged these parties to join their “peaceful, democratic protest at Jantar Mantar” on the opening day of the monsoon session of Parliament.
“This is not about one party, one region, or one people. It is about defending India’s federal spirit, upholding the Constitution, and demanding the long-overdue restoration of Jammu & Kashmir’s Statehood, as repeatedly promised. We hope every democratic voice across the country will stand united in this collective cause,” the party said.
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In his letter to the invitees, Abdullah said: “Statehood — that most basic constitutional right, that most elementary unit of self-governance in a federal democracy — remains withheld and elusive to us. There is no explanation forthcoming. There is no timeline offered. There is only silence. This is not merely a delay. It is an affront to the democratic will of an entire people.”
The NC president underscored that the way J&K has been reduced and held in “administrative subordination” strikes at the very root of the country’s federal polity. “I have spent my life in the service of the people of Jammu & Kashmir and of India. I have seen this land at its most turbulent and at its most hopeful. The people of J&K have chosen hope – we have chosen the ballot, the Constitution, and the democratic process that all of us in some way or another have been a part of. We deserve to be treated with the same dignity and respect,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, in his address to the Friday congregation at Jamia Masjid, Mirwaiz Farooq said, any effort by any political alliance, organisation or individuals working for the restoration of the usurped rights of the people of J&K, if based on sincerity, is the need of the hour.
He said that it is the “foremost responsibility of the NC government towards the people of J&K, who gave it a mandate on the clear promise that, once elected, it would revive the pre-2019 status of J&K, including restoration of statehood and Article 370 and 35A.” He also emphasised that the agitation cannot be limited to the restoration of statehood, but has to be for “all the seized safeguards and rights of the people” of J&K.
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Leader of the Opposition in the J&K assembly Sunil Sharma said on Friday that statehood is the domain of the centre, “and the centre and parliament will restore statehood. Why will the state unit chief go anywhere with them? The BJP will not go to their protest.”
The PDP also confirmed that they received the letter from the NC president and that the party’s Political Affairs Committee will take up the matter. PDP Spokesperson Mohit Bhan said that any political initiative or collective approach must ensure that the core demand for the restoration of the constitutional guarantees under Articles 370 and 35A is not diluted in any manner.
“Statehood was promised by the Prime Minister on the floor of Parliament, and the Government of India, through the Solicitor General, also assured the Supreme Court by way of an affidavit that statehood would be restored. The BJP must now honour its commitments made before Parliament and its assurances given before the Supreme Court,” he added.
