SRINAGAR — Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Meghwal on Tuesday said that statehood to Jammu and Kashmir would be restored soon, prompting Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to express hope that the wait would not be much longer.
After attending a function at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) here, Meghwal told reporters that while the issue was “very sensitive”, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had already stated in the Lok Sabha that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood would be restored.
“You will get it, but there is a process for it. I feel you will soon hear about a decision in this regard,” Meghwal said.
Reacting to the remarks, Abdullah, who was also present at the event, said he had heard on the sidelines that the Union minister had spoken about good news soon.
“It has been one-and-a-half years of wait. We hope we do not have to wait much longer,” the chief minister told reporters.
He said no one in Jammu and Kashmir would be satisfied until statehood is restored.
“The process is on, though it is taking longer. We were expecting to get it by now, but we have not. We have not given up hope and are continuously talking to the Centre on it,” Abdullah added.
Shah had told the Lok Sabha on February 13, 2021, that Jammu and Kashmir’s Union Territory status was temporary and that statehood would be restored.
On August 5, 2019, the Centre abrogated Article 370, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. — (PTI)