Kharge, Rahul write to PM; urge for legislation to restore J-K statehood

New Delhi: Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press for a legislation in Parliament's upcoming Monsoon session to grant full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

The leaders of opposition in the two houses of Parliament -- Kharge is the LoP in the Rajya Sabha and Gandhi is the LoP in the Lok Sabha -- also called on the government to bring a legislation to include the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution.

In their joint letter to Modi, Kharge and Gandhi said that for the past five years, the people of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir have consistently called for the restoration of full statehood.

This demand is both legitimate and firmly grounded in their constitutional and democratic rights, they said.

"It is important to recognise that while there have been instances of Union territories being granted statehood in the past, the case of Jammu and Kashmir is without precedent in independent India. This is the first time a full-fledged state has been downgraded to a Union territory following its bifurcation," the letter said.

"Your goodself has, on multiple occasions, personally reiterated the government's commitment to restoring statehood. In your interview in Bhubaneswar on 19 May 2024, you stated: 'The restoration of statehood is a solemn promise we have made and we stand by it'. Again, while addressing a rally in Srinagar on 19 September 2024, you reaffirmed: 'We have said in Parliament that we will restore the region's statehood'," the two leaders said.

The Union government has also made similar assurances before the Supreme Court in the Article 370 matter, submitting that statehood would be restored "at the earliest and as soon as possible", they pointed out.

"In view of the foregoing and aforementioned, we urge upon the government to bring forward a legislation in the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament to grant full statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir," Kharge and Gandhi said.

"Additionally, we request that the government bring forward legislation to include the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution," they said.

This would be a significant step towards addressing the cultural, developmental, and political aspirations of the people of Ladakh, while safeguarding their rights, land, and identity, the letter said.

Reacting to Kharge and Gandhi jointly writing the letter to Modi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah welcomed the Congress initiative, saying "we are not demanding something that was not promised to us".

"This is a very good thing, we were waiting for this day when the opposition would raise our voice in Parliament and Delhi. I am thankful to Kharge and Rahul that they have raised the statehood issue with the Centre," the chief minister said on the sidelines of an event in Jammu, when asked about the letter.

He said, "We are not demanding something which was not promised to us. We were repeatedly promised within and outside Parliament, Supreme Court and public functions that the statehood will be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time."

Expressing gratitude, spokesperson of Jammu and Kashmir's ruling National Conference (NC) Imran Nabi Dar said, "We welcome this and thank the Congress leadership for taking the initiative." He said there is no reason to delay the restoration of statehood to the Union Territory further.

"We are hopeful that the government will bring the bill (for the restoration of statehood) in the forthcoming Monsoon session (of Parliament)," Dar said.

People's Democratic Party (PDP) spokesperson Mohit Bhan said statehood is the right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and there has already been a delay in restoring it.

"As far as statehood is concerned, that should be given to Jammu and Kashmir. The prime minister and the home minister have promised it and I think much time has already passed and Jammu and Kashmir should get its statehood back," he said.

Bhan, however, asserted that the "real fight" is for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution, which were revoked by the Centre on August 5, 2019 and the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into Union territories.

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Karra expressed gratitude to the party leadership for its letter to Modi.

The letter comes a day after the top Congress leadership decided to raise issues such as the Pahalgam terror attack, the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and rising atrocities against women in the country during the Monsoon session starting July 21.