Why Kharge-Rahul’s letter to Modi on J-K statehood set rumour mills buzzing

Five days ahead of the commencement of Parliament’s Monsoon Session, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, the Leaders of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, respectively, have shot off a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir.

The letter sent on Wednesday (July 16) also urges Modi to enable a legislation to include the Union Territory of Ladakh, carved out of J&K in October 2019 through a Reorganisation Act for the erstwhile state, “under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution” as a “significant step towards addressing the cultural, developmental and political aspirations of the people of Ladakh, while safeguarding their rights, land and identity”.

Also read: Kharge, Rahul Gandhi urge PM Modi for J&K statehood legislation

A wily political move?

However, it isn’t so much the content of the joint letter that has aroused curiosity in the corridors of power in both Delhi and Srinagar but the timing of it. While some see the letter as a mere reiteration of the Congress’ consistent position on J&K and Ladakh over the past six years, there is also a section of party leaders, leaders of diverse political parties from the Kashmir Valley, and political observers who wonder if Kharge and Rahul’s “request” to Modi is a wily political move meant to pre-empt a possible surprise in the Centre’s legislative agenda for the upcoming Parliament session, which begins on July 21.

The Congress and its allies in the unsteady INDIA bloc have been making these twin demands since the Modi government bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir to create the Union Territories of J&K (with an Assembly) and Ladakh (sans an Assembly) following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

Omar’s uneasy relationship with Congress

The statehood issue had come up for discussion afresh during a meeting of the Congress parliamentary strategy group, chaired by Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday (July 15). It was at this meeting that the decision to have Kharge and Rahul write a joint letter to Modi pressing on the demand was taken, The Federal has learnt.

J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who lately has made no secret of his uneasy relationship with the Congress, a National Conference ally, extended rather a backhanded gratitude to Kharge and Rahul for their letter to Modi. “We were waiting for this day when the Opposition would raise our voice in Parliament and Delhi,” he told reporters in Jammu, while thanking Kharge and Rahul.

Also read: Martyrs' Day row in J-K: Left parties slam 'manhandling' of CM Omar Abdullah

Wish to be granted with riders?

What has piqued the interest of politicians and political commentators of all hues, though, is that the letter from the Leaders of Opposition coincides with intense speculation in the Kashmir Valley about the possibility of the Centre restoring J&K’s statehood but with several terms and conditions through an enabling legislation that may be brought to Parliament during the Monsoon Session.

Save for vague reiterations of its commitment to restore J&K’s statehood, the Centre has not said anything definitive on whether it plans to start the legislative process to this end during the upcoming Parliament session. Sources in the government maintain that the Centre’s legislative agenda, though expansive, “does not include the restoration of statehood for J&K nor a blanket inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution”.

Monsoon session

The most important item on the Centre’s legislative agenda, sources say, is likely to be the passage of the Income Tax Bill, presently under scrutiny of a Select Committee. The government is also expected to push an array of other legislation that could include the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, the National Sports Governance Bill, Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill and the Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, among others.

The government is also likely to seek an extension of President’s Rule in Manipur during the session and, most importantly, agree to the Opposition’s demand for discussions on the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and the events that followed India’s launch of Operation Sindoor as well as its abrupt conclusion with US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. Also on the agenda is likely to be the initiation of impeachment proceedings against Justice Yashwant Verma.

Also read: J-K CM Omar Abdullah scales graveyard gates to offer tributes to martyrs

Reluctant Centre

Yet, certain developments in J&K and Ladakh over the past few months have kept the rumour mills buzzing over the statehood question for the erstwhile state and the demand for Sixth Schedule protections to Ladakh.

Last month, Greater Kashmir, one of Srinagar’s leading English newspapers, published a report that quoted an unnamed Home Ministry official saying the Centre “might pay heed to the demands of these political parties, though not immediately” to restore J&K’s statehood.

Interestingly, the official also claimed that “the demand would be met on the condition that either statehood would be restored after the present government completes its term” or that it might be restored “sooner but new elections would be held for electing the government... as the previous elections were held for a government under J&K Union Territory”.

Omar’s outburst

The Greater Kashmir report instantly triggered frenzy across J&K, especially in the Kashmir Valley. The political hysteria fanned by the report was enough to get the J&K chief minister, who in the immediate aftermath of the Pahalgam attack had practically dismissed the possibility of him pressuring the Centre to restore statehood anytime soon, to respond to the claims at some length and in barely guarded fury during an interaction with the media.

“I know where the story has come from. I know who planted the story.... it was planted only to scare the MLAs,” Abdullah had told reporters then. “Statehood is for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we MLAs will not be an obstacle in it. If MLAs are being threatened with the dissolution of the Assembly for restoration of statehood, then do it. The day the State is established again, the next day we will go to the Governor and recommend the dissolution of the Assembly. Don’t try to scare us... statehood is our right so give it to us; stop planting stories in newspapers,” Abdullah added.

Also read: J&K: CM Omar Abdullah ready for fresh polls if statehood restored

Too timid a CM?

Though Abdullah’s position on the statehood question cannot be turned a volte face considering that his party has been periodically raising this demand, his stance on the issue in wake of the Greater Kashmir report was certainly more belligerent than it had been for months.

In fact, up until the Greater Kashmir report triggered renewed rumours about the possibility of restoration of statehood, Abdullah was being slammed, including by members of the National Conference such as its Srinagar MP Ruhullah Mehdi, of being painfully timid in pressing the demand with the Centre. The J&K CM’s regular praise for Modi at public events and discussions had allowed his critics to paint Abdullah as a pusillanimous leader who was hesitant to take on Delhi for fear of losing out on central assistance to the Union Territory.

Renewed aggression

The rumours about possible restoration of J&K’s statehood seemed to have breathed new aggression in Abdullah. A public display of this was witnessed on July 14 when Abdullah scaled the boundary wall of Srinagar’s Mazar-e-Shuhada (Martyrs Graveyard) to offer prayers at the graves of Kashmiri Muslims who were gunned down on July 13, 1931 by the Dogra forces of the then J&K ruler Hari Singh.

Abdullah’s act was a sign of protest against the unprecedented move by the UT’s Lieutenant Governor-helmed administration, which had locked the CM, his Cabinet colleagues and scores of Kashmiri political, religious, and social leaders in their homes on July 13 to prevent them from offer prayers at Mazar-e-Shuhada. Since July 14, the CM has sought to remind the Modi and the Centre ad nauseam of the assurance given to the Supreme Court as well as the people of J&K to restore statehood “at the earliest”.

Also read: Farooq Abdullah: Restoration of J-K statehood a constitutional right

Ladakh’s story

In neighbouring Ladakh, the appointment of former J&K Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta as the new Lieutenant Governor on July 14 and the Union home ministry’s decision to meet a delegation of Ladakh’s political, religious and social representatives on July 20 was seen by many as a possible first step by the Centre towards the UT’s inclusion under the Sixth Schedule.

Sources in the Congress claim the party’s decision to have Kharge and Rahul write to Modi was a bid to give the party a “first mover advantage if the rumours about the Centre planning to restore J&K’s statehood and bring Ladakh under Sixth Schedule during the upcoming Parliament session indeed come true”.

Chance for Congress

“It seems unlikely but why should we take a chance. If the Centre doesn’t do it, we can say we raised the demand forcefully in the letter to Modi and if both or even one of these two things happens, we can say it was because of pressure from the Congress leadership and the INDIA bloc. We have nothing to lose,” a senior Congress MP, who is also part of the party’s parliamentary strategy group, told The Federal.

With speculation on the twin issues still swirling, many in J&K and Ladakh hope that the Centre should make the announcement on August 5, anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 as partial reparation for that “historic injustice”. Will it?