‘Appropriate time has come’: Why Omar Abdullah is ‘hopeful’ of J&K statehood restoration

The remark follows a charged comment from senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Sunil Sharma, who dismissed the NC’s renewed statehood pitch as disingenuous. “Statehood is our narrative, it is the BJP’s promise. Abdullah should rather focus on fulfilling the promises he made to the people,” Sharma said on Monday.

Abdullah’s renewed assertion also comes in the backdrop of criticism surrounding the Waqf Act. Opposition leaders, including members from the NC, sought a discussion on the legislation through an adjournment motion that was denied by Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather on grounds that the issue was subjudice. The move sparked uproar, with opposition parties accusing the Speaker—who is from the NC—of shielding the government by stalling debate.

Clarifying the party’s position, Abdullah responded to the controversy by stressing procedural correctness.
“The Speaker made everything clear on the last day. Perhaps, the mistake by the members was that they brought an adjournment motion. An adjournment motion is only brought to discuss the works of the JK government because the government has to respond. Tell me, had that adjournment motion been accepted, how would we have responded as the Waqf Bill was not brought by us. It was passed by the Centre in the Parliament,” he said.

While Abdullah continues to push for the return of statehood, he has remained cautious on the larger issue of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status—revoked in August 2019 with the abrogation of Article 370. He has repeatedly stated that the fight for special status is far from over, but tempered expectations of any immediate reversal.

“We have said we will continue to keep the issue alive, which we have done… But at no point did we ever mislead the people by telling them that they’re going to elect a government that is going to immediately get the special status restored,” Abdullah said during a February Idea Exchange session with Indian Express. “To expect the people who took it away from us to give it back to us, just because we’re asking for it, is pointless.”