As polls near, Indian opposition leader Gandhi pledges to restore Kashmir statehood

By Hilal Mir

​​​​​​​SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) - India’s main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday his party’s priority will be to work for the restoration of statehood to the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region, which was stripped of autonomy and downgraded into a federally ruled territory by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019.

Gandhi’s Congress party had condemned the manner in which the Muslim-majority region’s autonomous position was scrapped, although it was the first to start erosion of this autonomy in the early 1950s.

Since 2019, New Delhi has been ruling Jammu and Kashmir directly through a Lt. Governor.

The last elections to the legislative assembly of the erstwhile autonomous state was held in 2014.

Beginning Sept. 18, a three-phased election will be held for the much-weakened local assembly that is widely being seen as a referendum on BJP’s 2019 decision.

During a poll campaign rally in Jammu region, Gandhi said: “Today a king (raja) lords over Jammu and Kashmir. His name is Lt. Governor, but he is a king.”

“The wealth and resources of Jammu and Kashmir are being snatched and given to people from outside. All benefits are being given to outsiders. We know your rights have been snatched. And we are committed that restoration of Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir will be restored, as it is our priority.”

The scrapping of the autonomous character has made it possible for outsiders to buy properties and take government employment, which were barred in the earlier arrangement. This has raised fears among the locals that they would be reduced into a minority and economically disempowered as well.

The region’s two largest political parties, National Conference and People’s Democratic Party (PDP), have made the restoration of autonomy a key poll plank.

The Congress has entered into a pre-poll seat sharing arrangement with the National Conference, drawing flak from India’s Home Minister Amit Shah who accused Congress of “risking nation’s unity and security to satiate its greed for power” by allying with the regional party.

Shah asked whether “Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party support the National Conference’s decision to restore autonomy and thereby push Jammu and Kashmir back into an era of unrest and terrorism?”

Defending its decision to abrogate the legislations granting autonomy to Kashmir, the BJP said the autonomy was responsible for the raging anti-India insurgency in the region and promoted separatism and discrimination.

In the forthcoming elections, NC-Congress alliance and PDP are expected to win the majority of the 47 seats in the Muslim-majority Kashmir province, while the BJP is likely to win majority of the 43 seats in the Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu region.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan, which rule over parts of the territory but claim it in full.