National Conference Invites INDIA Bloc to Delhi Protest for J&K Statehood

The ruling National Conference (NC) in Jammu and Kashmir has called on members of the opposition INDIA bloc and other political leaders to join a protest in New Delhi demanding the restoration of statehood to the region. The demonstration is scheduled for the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who took office in October 2024, has repeatedly urged the central government to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, which was downgraded to a union territory in August 2019 following the abrogation of Article 370. The NC’s alliance partner, the Congress party, has also been pressing for the demand, staging protests across the region. The central government has not publicly responded to these demands.

On June 4, after a day-long meeting of the NC legislative party, the party decided to hold a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The party has invited 52 leaders, including 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.

Within Jammu and Kashmir, 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 (the region’s head cleric), and Grand Mufti Nasir ul Islam.

NC president Farooq Abdullah urged these parties to join the “peaceful, democratic protest at Jantar Mantar.” In a statement, the party said: “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.”

In his letter to invitees, Abdullah wrote: “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.” He added that the way Jammu and Kashmir has been reduced to “administrative subordination” strikes at the root of India’s federal polity.

Separately, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in his Friday sermon at Jamia Masjid, said any sincere effort by political alliances, organisations, or individuals to restore the “usurped rights” of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is the need of the hour. He stressed that the NC government has a responsibility to fulfil its pre-election promise of reviving the pre-2019 status of the region, including the restoration of statehood and Articles 370 and 35A. He emphasised that the agitation must aim to restore all seized safeguards and rights.

Leader of the Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Sunil Sharma, said statehood is a matter for the central government, and “the centre and Parliament will decide.”