New Delhi: Jammu & Kashmir Assembly has passed a resolution demanding special status to the State. Deputy chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader Surinder Choudhary moved the resolution on Wednesday, which called upon the “Government of India to initiate dialogue with elected representatives” to bring back the status which was scrapped in 2019.
“This legislative assembly reaffirms the importance of the special status and constitutional guarantees, which safeguarded the identity, culture, and rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and expresses concern over their unilateral removal. This assembly emphasises that any process for restoration must safeguard both national unity and the legitimate aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the resolution said.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators tore copies of the document, stormed the well of the House, and raised slogans against the speaker. Notably, in August 2019, the Centre revoked Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to the region, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two UTs — J&K with an assembly and Ladakh without one. On December 11 last year, the Supreme Court upheld the revocation of Article 370. The campaign in the recently held J&K assembly elections was dominated by issues of Article 370 and the region’s autonomy, with the National Conference-led alliance and other regional parties calling for its restoration and the BJP hailing its revocation.
