Elusive statehood

Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s latest assurance that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood will be restored at an “appropriate time” has rekindled some fresh hope in a region that has been waiting for this promise to materialise for six long years. Speaking at a media conclave in Patna, Shah also claimed that “no local terrorist has been recruited in the last nine months,” a statement meant to underline the “qualitative change” in the Union Territory since the abrogation of Article 370.

Indeed, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has changed considerably since August 2019. The militancy has largely ebbed, street protests have disappeared, and an elected government is back in place. Yet, despite this progress, the promised statehood has not been restored, nor are there signs it will be in near future.

When the state was bifurcated and downgraded into a Union Territory, it was presented as a temporary measure. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the home minister have repeatedly pledged that statehood would be returned “at an appropriate time.” That time, one could argue, has now come. Despite Pahalgam attack, in which 22 tourists were brutally killed in April this year, J&K is the most peaceful in years

Shah’s statement that “democracy has been restored” in J&K is true. But it is also true that the genuine democracy means a government accountable to its people, one that enjoys full legislative and administrative powers, not partial autonomy. As things stand, without statehood, the elected assembly remains subordinate to the Centre in critical areas of governance, something that the chief minister Omar Abdullah has highlighted time and again.

Since Pahalgam attack, even as Kashmir has returned to normal, New Delhi’s silence on statehood has grown more pronounced. Neither the Prime Minister nor senior ministers have referred to the issue, including during high-profile visits such as the inauguration of the Chenab Bridge by the PM. But now the home minister’s reiteration of the promise has brought the statehood debate back into public discourse if not bringing it closer to translation into reality. Here’s hoping that in the near future the centre will come out with a timeline for the restoration of statehood.