Says Centre must honour repeated assurances made by PM, Home Minister and before Supreme Court; backs J&K parties’ protest in New Delhi
SRINAGAR: CPI(M) on Monday demanded the immediate restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that it was essential to rebuild public trust, strengthen democratic institutions and fulfil commitments repeatedly made by the Centre.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, senior CPI(M) leader and MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami extended support to the ongoing protest in New Delhi led by the National Conference, in which Left parties, independent legislators and leaders of several political parties from Jammu and Kashmir are participating.
Tarigami said the protest aims to remind the Government of India of its repeated assurances regarding the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. He noted that such commitments had been made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on several occasions, including in Parliament and at public meetings.
“We are not asking for the impossible. We are simply demanding that the promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir be honoured in both letter and spirit,” he said, adding that the restoration of statehood was “not a favour but a constitutional obligation and a matter of democratic accountability.”
The CPI(M) leader said there was no justification for delaying the implementation of these assurances and urged the Centre to restore statehood without further delay.
Referring to the August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 and reorganise the erstwhile state into two Union Territories, Tarigami described the move as “undemocratic and unconstitutional” and alleged that it violated the assurances given to the people of Jammu and Kashmir at the time of accession in 1947.
He said the high voter turnout in the 2024 Assembly elections reflected the people’s faith in democratic institutions, but their aspirations remained unfulfilled as full statehood had not been restored despite the formation of an elected government.
Tarigami recalled that during the all-party meeting convened by the Centre in June 2021, the Union Home Minister had assured political leaders that full statehood would be restored after the completion of the delimitation process and Assembly elections.
He also referred to assurances made by the Prime Minister ahead of the 2024 Assembly elections that statehood would follow the electoral process. “More than one-and-a-half years after the elected government assumed office, these commitments remain unfulfilled,” he said.
The CPI(M) leader further pointed out that during the hearings before the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370, the Solicitor General, representing the Union government, had also assured the court that full statehood would be restored.
Tarigami maintained that while the Centre has repeatedly claimed that peace and normalcy have returned to Jammu and Kashmir after the 2019 constitutional changes, the situation on the ground does not fully support those claims.
He said restoring full statehood would help reinforce democratic governance and rebuild confidence among the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
