Omar Abdullah sets July 20 Delhi protest for Jammu and Kashmir statehood

Jammu,UPDATED: Jul 12, 2026 18:17 IST

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the National Conference's July 20 demonstration in Delhi will mark the beginning of a new phase in its campaign for the restoration of statehood to the Union Territory. Addressing a public rally, Abdullah said the party had waited long enough and would now take its demand to the national capital.

He said statehood was not a favour but the right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and questioned the Centre's repeated assurance that it would be restored at an 'appropriate time'. Abdullah said the party had given the Central government nearly two years, but had now decided to adopt a new strategy after talks did not produce results.

Abdullah was speaking at a well-attended rally at Maharaja Hari Singh Park, his first major public meeting in Jammu city in many years. The rally was held in a BJP stronghold and came a day after the National Conference held a workers' convention at the mausoleum of Abdullah's grandparents in the Hazratbal area to mark the 26th death anniversary of his grandmother, Akbar Jehan. He paid tribute to her from the stage as thousands of party workers cheered and waved flags and banners demanding statehood. A large banner read, 'Delhi Chalo! We Want Our Statehood', while placards carried slogans such as 'Hamari Riyasat, Hamari Shaan' and 'Hamari Riyasat, Hamara Haq'.

'Enough is enough! There will be no more waiting!' Abdullah said. He added, 'Our decency is being taken for granted. Our silence is being mistaken for weakness, and our patience is being tested beyond its limits.' He said that after facing taunts from the BJP, repeated accusations and what he called conspiracies against his party, the National Conference had concluded that 'the time has come to take to the streets'. He said, 'We have given the Central government enough time. For almost two years, we pursued one approach ... Now we will adopt a new strategy. That new phase will begin on July 20, when we will gather in Delhi and raise our voice for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood.'

Calling statehood a right, Abdullah said the issue went beyond his party and concerned every party that contested the 2024 Assembly election. 'Show me a single BJP MLA who told voters that the party would oppose statehood. They sought votes promising restoration,' he said. On the Centre's repeated use of the phrase 'appropriate time', he asked what that meant and whether it meant waiting for the BJP to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir. He said the Centre had earlier set out a sequence of delimitation, election and then statehood, and noted that the Supreme Court had also called for the restoration of statehood 'as soon as possible' after the election. 'We believe the delimitation exercise unfairly favoured the BJP, yet we accepted it and contested the election. Despite attempts to divide political parties and influence the electoral outcome, the people delivered their verdict. The government must now honour its commitment,' he said.

Explaining the choice of Delhi for the protest, Abdullah said, 'If decisions concerning a part of our own country cannot be taken in our own national capital, where are they supposed to be taken?' He also said, 'So what do they expect us to do? Should we go to America and protest before (US President Donald) Trump or outside the White House to seek Jammu and Kashmir's statehood? We are only asking for a promise made in our own country to be honoured in our own country's capital.' He accused the BJP of using statehood as political bait instead of fulfilling a constitutional commitment and said, 'If it is Modi's promise made on the soil of Katra, then it should be honoured.' Abdullah said the people of Jammu and Kashmir were being punished by the continued denial of statehood, adding that the people of Jammu had stood with the nation in difficult times, border districts had suffered shelling, and the region had sheltered those displaced by militancy. Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, he said Jammu and Kashmir had once been described as a symbol of communal harmony and asked whether it was now being penalised for preserving Hindu-Muslim-Sikh unity. He said the party would keep 'knocking on the doors of our own nation's capital' and reminding the country's leadership of its promises. 'We were forced to come on the roads after the talks failed. The July 20 protest will be the start of our agitation in support of the demand,' he said. Abdullah also said his government was doing all it could despite the limitations of Union Territory status and administrative obstacles, adding that several key departments that should be under an elected government remained outside its control.

Abdullah's speech set out the National Conference's next political step on statehood, with the party now preparing to shift its campaign to Delhi after saying it had waited long enough for the Centre to act on its promise.

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With inputs from PTI