SRINAGAR: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Waheed Para has moved an amendment to the statehood resolution introduced by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, seeking the restoration of the special constitutional provisions previously applicable to the Union Territory under Articles 370 and 35A.
Abdullah’s resolution calls for the “immediate and urgent restoration of full statehood” to Jammu and Kashmir and says the House’s resolution should be forwarded to the Government of India. It also refers to resolutions passed by the Assembly on June 26, 2000, and November 6, 2024.
The 2000 resolution, passed during the National Conference-led government headed by Farooq Abdullah, sought restoration of greater autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir as it existed before August 9, 1953.
The Assembly had also adopted a resolution on November 6, 2024, seeking restoration of the erstwhile special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Para’s amendment seeks to add the demand for reinstatement of the special provisions under Articles 370 and 35A to the present resolution on statehood.
The move comes amid opposition from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has sought the dismissal of the Omar Abdullah government, alleging that its recent moves are aimed at reviving an earlier political arrangement and challenging the existing constitutional framework.
BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma accused the National Conference-Congress government of attempting to exceed the Assembly’s constitutional domain through the resolution, claiming that it sought to revive issues concerning autonomy and the pre-1953 constitutional arrangement.
