NC’s Article 370 Dilemma: Will They Walk the Talk in Assembly?

J&K Assembly session to begin from Nov 4

Srinagar, Oct 19: All eyes are on November 4, 2024, when the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Assembly will begin its session. The National Conference (NC) has stated that it plans to introduce a resolution against the revocation of Article 370, the provision that granted special status to the region until it was abrogated in August 2019. Article 370 was a key issue in NC’s election campaign, but since assuming power, the party’s focus seemed to have shifted. 

However, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah clarified in a tweet on Saturday, “Article 370 is the purview of the legislature while statehood is the purview of the government. Hence, the statehood resolution has come first.”
The J&K government officially announced that the Assembly session would be held in Srinagar on November 4. The Lieutenant Governor has been advised to summon and address the Assembly at the commencement of its first session. The draft address of the Lieutenant Governor was also discussed in a cabinet meeting, with further deliberation planned.

One of the first actions taken by the Omar Abdullah-led government was passing a resolution to restore statehood to J&K. This move, however, faced sharp criticism from opposition parties, with many accusing the NC of reneging on its promise to restore Article 370. The opposition argued that the ruling party’s first cabinet decision should have addressed both statehood and Article 370, as per its election pledge.
Political parties, including the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), People’s Conference (PC), and Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), criticized the NC’s decision to focus solely on statehood. They labeled it as a betrayal of the NC’s pre-election promises. In its manifesto, the NC had pledged to work toward restoring J&K’s special status along with statehood, in response to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, and the events of August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was revoked.
PDP leader Iltija Mufti expressed her dismay, stating that the government’s silence on Article 370 signified surrender. “Isn’t this fait accompli, whitewashing & legitimising Delhi’s illegal brutal disempowerment & disrobing of India’s only Muslim majority state? Not a scale back but utter surrender,” she posted on X.
Waheed Para, president of the PDP youth wing, also voiced his concerns, calling the resolution on statehood a “ratification” of the August 2019 decision. He criticized the NC for shifting its stance after securing votes on the promise of restoring Article 370. Para, who won the recent assembly election from Pulwama, reiterated that the omission of Article 370 from the resolution was a “huge setback.”
Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid echoed these sentiments, calling the reports of a resolution solely on statehood “very painful” and a “departure” from the NC’s earlier position. He reminded the NC of its campaign promises, which centered on restoring both statehood and Article 370.
As the November 4 session approaches, the political climate in J&K remains tense. The opposition parties continue to press the NC to fulfill its election promises, while the government faces increasing pressure to clarify its stance on Article 370.