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3 generations of Abdullahs protest in Delhi to seek restoration of J&K’s statehood

Early Times Report

Jammu, July 20: Three generations of the Abdullah family came together in New Delhi on Monday as the ruling National Conference (NC), backed by its coalition partner Congress, staged a protest demanding the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
The demonstration, led by National Conference president and former Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah, saw the participation of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah along with his two sons, Zahir Abdullah and Zamir Abdullah, making it a symbolic show of political unity across three generations of the party's first family.
The protest was organised after NC leaders alleged they were prevented from reaching Jantar Mantar, the designated venue for demonstrations in the national capital. Undeterred, the party and its allies held a demonstration elsewhere in New Delhi, accusing the Centre of reneging on its repeated assurances to restore Jammu and Kashmir's statehood.
Senior Congress leaders, including J&K Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra and AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, joined the protest along with Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and several National Conference leaders.
The protesters carried placards demanding that the Centre honour its commitment to restore statehood and raised slogans such as "Fulfil Your Promise" and "Restore the Rights and Dignity of Jammu and Kashmir."
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Farooq Abdullah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Parliament, and the Supreme Court that statehood would be restored. He expressed hope that the Union Government would honour those commitments.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah described the protest as the beginning of a sustained political campaign.
"The movement has just begun," he declared, alleging that attempts were made to obstruct the peaceful demonstration by preventing him and other leaders from reaching Jantar Mantar.
Accusing the Centre of forcing the National Conference to take its protest to the national capital, Omar Abdullah said the party had spent more than two years reminding the Government of the assurances it had made before Parliament and the Supreme Court.
"The Central Government has forced us to come to Delhi and protest. For the past two and a quarter years, we have only been reminding them to fulfil the promises made to the people in Parliament and before the Supreme Court," he said.
Reiterating that the restoration of statehood remained the party's immediate priority, Omar Abdullah said the National Conference would continue pursuing the political agenda endorsed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
"In the first Assembly session, we passed a resolution on Jammu and Kashmir's special position, special status and constitutional rights. We are not abandoning that agenda. The purpose of today's protest is to remind the Central Government of its promise. Everything begins from there—first statehood, then the implementation of the resolution passed by the Assembly," he said.
The Chief Minister asserted that the struggle for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood, rights and dignity would continue until the Centre fulfilled its promise.
The protest marked the National Conference's first major political demonstration in the national capital since the formation of the Omar Abdullah-led government and underscored the party's decision to intensify its campaign for the restoration of statehood.