Facing Flak Over Discreet Adoption of Statehood Resolution, CM Omar Abdullah Says Article 370 Purview of Legislature, Statehood of Govt

Srinagar: After coming under fire from political opponents over apparent discreet adoption of resolution on statehood, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has broken his silence on the matter, saying that his government’s focus is statehood restoration. Omar said that Article 370, which provided special autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir before it’s revocation in August 2019, requires action by the legislature.

Omar said since statehood can be granted or altered by a decision of the government, it was addressed first, while Article 370 requires legislative involvement. “Article 370 is the purview of the legislature, while statehood is the purview of the government. Hence, the statehood resolution has come first,” he wrote on X.

The Omar Abdullah-led National Conference government, at its first cabinet meeting on Thursday, unanimously adopted a resolution seeking the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

Opposition parties, including the PDP and Peoples’ Conference, were critical of the move. While PDP’s Waheed Parra likened the resolution to nothing less than a ratification of GoI’s August 5, 2019, the Peoples’ Conference Chief Sajad Lone asserted that such a matter was supposed to be delved into by the assembly and not by the Cabinet itself.