New Delhi, Mar 29: Statehood in Jammu and Kashmir will be restored as promised before, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said, without giving any timeline
Shah said at the “Times Now Summit 2025” Friday night that assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir peacefully last year.
“We have given the assurance that statehood will be restored. From the very beginning, we have said that statehood would be given. But it can’t be disclosed when it will be given at a public forum,” he said when asked about the timeline for restoration of statehood.
When Article 370 was abrogated and the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union territories in 2019, Shah had said in Parliament that the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir would be restored at an appropriate time.
“This was the first election in Kashmir after 40 years in which there was no re-polling in any place. Not a single tear gas or bullet was fired. Sixty per cent of people exercised their franchise; this is a huge change,” he said.
Shah’s statement comes at a time when three separate Private Member Bills are coming up in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly – two by the ruling National Conference legislators and the third by an independent legislator – seeking the restoration of statehood.
The Bills for restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir would come up for discussion on April 7.
“The House resolves that statehood be restored immediately as promised by the central government in the Parliament of India,” reads the Private Member Bill introduced by National Conference legislator Qaisar Jamsheed Lone, who represents the Lolab assembly constituency.
A similar but separate Private Member Bill coming up for the discussion on the same day has been introduced by National Conference’s Sonwarai legislator Hilal Akbar Lone.
“This House impresses upon the government of India to restore statehood to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to fulfill the promises made by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in the parliament,” Lone’s Bill reads.
Both Bills from the National Conference legislators have referred to the promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the return of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.