Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced a significant signature campaign on Friday, aimed at pressuring for the restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir. The signatures will be presented to the Supreme Court.
Abdullah’s announcement, made during his Independence Day speech at Bakshi Stadium, comes after the Supreme Court observed the recent Pahalgam attack while hearing a plea on statehood. Abdullah voiced his dismay, stating that it’s unfair for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to be “punished for a crime in which they played no role.”
The Supreme Court has given the government an eight-week deadline to respond. Abdullah declared that his party will use this time to go door-to-door across all 90 assembly segments to gather signatures. He stated, “If people are not ready to sign the document, I will accept defeat.” He emphasized that the signed documents will be submitted to the apex court, bringing the people’s voices directly to the decision-makers.
Abdullah highlighted the injustice of linking the Pahalgam terror attack to the statehood decision. He questioned, “Will the killers of Pahalgam and their masters in the neighbouring country decide whether we will be a state?” He pointed out that every time the region gets close to statehood, such incidents might be used to sabotage the process. Abdullah noted that people from across the region, from Kathua to Kupwara, had protested the April 22 attack on their own, making it especially unjust to hold them accountable for it. The attack resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians, most of them tourists, in the Baisaran meadow.
