A day after facing criticism of the opposition on government’s “secrecy” on the resolution passed on Thursday by the cabinet seeking restoration of J&K’s statehood, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday released the text of the resolution that said “restoration of statehood will be a beginning of a healing process, reclaiming the constitutional rights and protecting identity of people of Jammu and Kashmir”.
The resolution that was passed unanimously in the cabinet’s first meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, also said that “Protection of Jammu and Kashmir’s unique identity and constitutional rights of people remains the cornerstone of the newly elected government’s policy”.
Giving details, an official spokesman said that “the Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet has passed a resolution urging the Union Government to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Cabinet which met under the chairmanship of Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister, on Thursday passed a unanimous resolution for “restoration of statehood in its original form”.
“The restoration of statehood will be a beginning of a healing process, reclaiming the constitutional rights and protecting the identity of people of Jammu and Kashmir. The Cabinet has authorised the Chief Minister to take up the matter with the Prime Minister and Government of India for restoration of statehood”.
“Protection of Jammu and Kashmir’s unique identity and constitutional rights of people remains the cornerstone of the newly elected government’s policy. The Chief Minister would be proceeding to New Delhi in coming days to meet the Prime Minister and Union Ministers in this regard”, the spokesman added.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also broke his silence and said that the resolution seeking restoration of statehood was passed by the cabinet first as it was the purview of the government.
Reacting to the criticism, Omar wrote on X; “Article 370 is the purview of the legislature while statehood is the purview of the government. Hence, the statehood resolution has come first”.
The opposition parties on Friday questioned the “secrecy” being maintained on the issue. They also described the resolution as a step towards scaling down from the National Conference’s earlier demand of restoration of Article 370.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet also decided to summon the Legislative Assembly at Srinagar on 4 November and advised Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to summon and address the Legislative Assembly.
The draft address of the Lieutenant Governor to the Legislative Assembly at the commencement of the first session was also placed before the Council of Ministers which the Council decided shall be further considered and discussed.
The Council also made a recommendation to the LG for appointment of Mubarik Gul as Pro-tem Speaker who will administer oath to the elected members of the Legislative Assembly on 21 October, the spokesman added.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor subsequently has issued the order of appointing Mubarik Gul as Pro-tem Speaker till the election of the Speaker is held.