Omar Abdullah Leads Delhi Protest Seeking Restoration Of J&K Statehood

Amid curbs in central Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah hailed an autorickshaw to reach Prithviraj Road on Monday, after police stopped National Conference leaders from moving towards Jantar Mantar to demand statehood for J&K.

National Conference leaders and workers, led by party president Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, gathered in Delhi on Monday, the opening day of Parliament's Monsoon session, to demand the immediate restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

"My walk from Jantar Mantar was about to turn into another procession, so we grabbed the first available means of transport," Omar Abdullah said in a post on X, sharing a video of his autorickshaw ride. His sons, Zamir and Zaheer, are also seen in the video.

For the security personnel accompanying the chief minister, a Z-plus protectee, it was hard to keep up. Some of them hopped onto two-wheelers, while others got into an autorickshaw.

After reaching Prithviraj Road, Omar Abdullah paid the autorickshaw driver Rs 500.

After being denied permission to demonstrate at Jantar Mantar, where thousands converged to join the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) 'Chalo Sansad' march, the NC shifted its protest programme to the nearby Constitution Club. However, Omar Abdullah was stopped from going to the Constitution Club and sat on a dharna with his supporters on Ashoka Road.

In a subsequent post on X, Omar Abdullah struck a defiant tone, saying, "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." Omar Abdullah arrived in the capital on Friday along with his father, but had to cut his visit short and head to Jammu on Sunday to chair an emergency high-level meeting following devastating flash floods in the Poonch-Rajouri belt. He returned to Delhi early Monday morning to join his party's protest.

The protest began at Jammu and Kashmir House on Prithviraj Road, where NC leaders, workers and alliance partners gathered with placards reading "Apna wada pura karo" (Fulfil your promise) and "Restore full statehood." Protesters raised slogans including "Modi ka wada, kyun raha aadha?" (Why has Modi's promise remained unfulfilled?).

Omar Abdullah said the protest was aimed at holding the Centre accountable to its explicit commitments made before both houses of Parliament and the Supreme Court to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.