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Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President, Farooq Abdullah, has reiterated the demand for restoration of statehood, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that he would fulfil the promise.
Speaking to reporters in Anantnag on Wednesday, Farooq Abdullah said, "We not only want commercial activities but also the restoration of statehood in Kashmir, as promised. We are waiting for this commitment to be fulfilled. The Prime Minister himself had said to Omar that he would fulfil his promise." With the abrogation of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were given the status of two separate Union Territories. Union Minister Amit Shah had promised for Jammu and Kashmir that "the status of State would be restored once the situation normalises." Meanwhile, National Conference legislators will hold a protest in Delhi during the monsoon session of the Parliament over the demand for statehood, party MLA Tanvir Sadiq said on June 3. The call for protest followed a meeting of legislators chaired by CM Omar Abdullah in Srinagar. Omar Abdullah took National Conference (NC) legislators to the off-limits forest destination of Dachigam in Srinagar to analyse 19 months of the party's rule in the Union Territory. In the recently concluded INDIA bloc meeting, Omar Abdullah had asked its alliance partners to join the JKNC protest in Delhi. He also informed them that the party would be writing to each of them individually as well, JKNC said in a statement on X. However, BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur dismissed the JKNC's announcement to protest as a political gimmick meant to mislead the public. Speaking to ANI, Thakur accused the party of attempting to deceive the people of Jammu and Kashmir. "They are fooling the people. Let me remind them, it was the National Conference that took this matter to the court, and now they do not trust that verdict as well," the BJP leader stated. Thakur further emphasised that the Centre has already clarified its position on the region's future. "The Prime Minister and the Home Minister have already stated that statehood will be restored at the right time," he asserted. (ANI)
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