Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks have dampened hopes for restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood soon. While reiterating the government’s commitment to restoring statehood, Shah said that decisions would be made “at the appropriate time”.
“We have already made our stand clear in Parliament. The timeframe was shared there and we said appropriate decisions will be taken when the time comes,” he said. He refrained from providing additional details, citing the ongoing Parliament session. His statements suggest no immediate plans for restoring full statehood, leaving the timeline indefinite.
However, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed frustration with the delay, calling the dual governance model in the Union Territory—where power is shared between the Chief Minister and the Lieutenant Governor—a “recipe for disaster”.
“No organisation works well if there are multiple power centres,” Abdullah said. There is a reason why a sports team has one captain, or why most of India has one elected Chief Minister empowered with their cabinet to take decisions.”
Earlier, Abdullah said the dual power structure was unacceptable and unhelpful for the region’s governance. Urging the Centre to fulfil its promise, he pointed out that it has been over a year since the Supreme Court asked the government to restore statehood.
“One year is enough to restore statehood,” he said. “The people of Jammu and Kashmir have already elected their government and it is time for the Centre to act.”
Shah’s remarks suggest that the restoration of statehood may remain on the backburner for now. That is likely to exacerbate the rift between Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha, who controls key levers of power. Observers opine that in the coming days, the rift between the chief minister and the lieutenant governor is likely to widen further, potentially affecting decision-making processes and governance in the region. (THE WEEK)
