Amid Protests In Delhi, Omar Abdullah's J&K Statehood Pitch At Jantar Mantar

Amid chaos and tear gas shelling, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, along with dozens of MLAs and ministers, reached Delhi's Jantar Mantar to stage a protest demanding the restoration of statehood to J&K.

It is the first time a serving J&K chief minister has taken to the streets to protest for the restoration of statehood. Omar Abdullah's father and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah also joined the demonstration. The 89-year-old, leaning on his walking stick, stood alongside protesters throughout the march.

Omar Abdullah took a swipe at political opponents who did not join the protest, saying his father was leading from the front despite his age.

"Here is a 90-year-old man leading from the front for J&K's rights and dignity while some others sit at home posting tweets," Abdullah said.

In August 2019, the Union government revoked J&K's special status under Article 370 and reorganised the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.

Holding a placard reading, "Restore rights and dignity of the people of J&K", Abdullah said the protest marked the beginning of a broader struggle to restore statehood and reclaim the rights and dignity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He also alleged that the protesters were prevented from reaching Jantar Mantar and were met with tear gas shelling.

"We were stopped from getting to Jantar Mantar and stopped from protesting peacefully for what is rightfully ours, but we were not silenced. This is only the beginning of our struggle for statehood, our rights, our dignity and everything that was taken away from us," Abdullah said in a post on X.

Referring to another protest taking place nearby, Abdullah later said he could have inadvertently joined it had he not taken an auto-rickshaw.

"My walk from Jantar Mantar was about to turn into another procession, so we grabbed the first available means of transport," he said.