Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have both addressed a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, protesting against the withdrawal of the full statehood of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and requesting that the Sixth Schedule Constitutional safeguards be issued on the region of Ladakh, during the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament. The monsoon session will start the following week.
Kharge and Gandhi had highlighted in the letter that the restoration of state control to J&K and special constitutional status to Ladakh will be needed to take care of the cultural, developmental, and political needs of people living in both regions. They wrote, “This would not only be a protection to the land, identity and democratic rights of the people but also achieve what the Government of India has promised.”
The Sixth Schedule to the Constitution enables the formation of autonomous councils in tribal territories, granting them legislative, executive, judicial, and financial authorities. The leaders of Congress justified their stance by saying that such provisions would provide self-governance to the tribal communities of Ladakh and also they would preserve their unique heritage.
Kharge and Gandhi also reminded the Prime Minister about his own assurances on the same in public. “On May 19, 2024, you told us, Restoring statehood is a sacred commitment that we have gone. Once more, on September 19, 2024, in Srinagar, you repeated the phrase, We have told it in Parliament we will grant the statehood back to the region.’ Words should be turned into deeds.”
Article 370 has been abrogated since August 2019, even though Jammu and Kashmir ceased to have special constitutional status and have been reduced to a Union Territory. The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgement in December 2023, maintained the constitutional modification but asked the Centre to grant statehood back to the region as early as possible.
Strong support has been voiced by the National Conference, headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, on the demand for statehood.
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