Centre not willing to restore J&K’s full statehood: J&K Congress chief

Jammu, Nov 26 J&K Pradesh Congress Committee President (JKPCC) Tariq Hameed Karra said on Tuesday that the Centre is not willing to restore full statehood to J&K.

“The Central government is not willing to restore full statehood to J&K as it is planning to retain some vital departments considered as the backbone of any state,” Tariq Karra told reporters in Rajouri.

He added that Congress will not accept any amendment and will continue to press for the restoration of full statehood to J&K as early as possible.

Karra said they have information that some powerful persons in the Central government are not willing to restore statehood in its original form to J&K.

“The Central government want to retain some vital departments which are the backbone and fountain-heads of any state and seek some amendments to keep these departments under their direct control. Such statehood is not acceptable to the Congress,” he said.

On Article 370, the Congress J&K chief said the party has already taken a principled stand on the subject by terming the government action as “unilateral and undemocratic”.

“The Congress Working Committee (CWC) met on August 6, 2019 and passed a resolution which is self-explanatory. The resolution condemned the government’s action in the strongest words, calling it undemocratic and unilateral. They have no right to take such a step without consulting the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

About the party stand now, he said, “Our only demand is the restoration of statehood and our stand is realistic based on the decision of the Supreme Court. We fought the elections on the demand of restoration of statehood and we will continue our struggle for its restoration.”

On the poor performance of the party in J&K polls, for which a fact-finding committee has been constituted, Karra said that the committee is finalising its report on the completion of one month and it will be available shortly.

--IANS

sq/dan