New Delhi, June 24: National Conference president and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to work towards building trust in Jammu and Kashmir by ensuring that its full statehood is restored.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to a group of leaders from Jammu and Kashmir that he wanted to remove “dil ki doori and Dilli ki doori”—the distance between hearts and the distance with Delhi—National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said after a meeting to chalk out the future course of action in the union territory on Thursday.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Abdullah said both Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah assured that they were committed to the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
The meeting was called nearly two years after the Centre abrogated the special status of the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into two union territories—Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
“The takeaway from the meeting was that the Prime Minister said that he wanted to remove ‘dil ki doori and Dilli ki doori’ but I as well as other leaders are sure that one meeting is not enough for the same. However, a process has begun,” Abdullah, a former Chief Minister said.
Talking to a newswire service immediately after a crucial meeting chaired by the prime minister here, Abdullah said his National Conference would continue to challenge through legal and constitutional means the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.
“There is a loss of trust which needs to be restored immediately and for that, to begin with, the Centre should work for the restoration of complete statehood to Jammu and Kashmir,” Abdullah, who is a Lok Sabha member, said.
“I conveyed to the prime minister that statehood means reverting even the IAS and IPS cadres of Jammu and Kashmir. The state has to be in totality,” he said after the meeting that lasted for over three hours.
The NC chief, who was accompanied by his son and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, said it was vital for the Centre to restore the identity of Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest so that other democratic exercises could be carried forward.
