New Delhi: In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, leaders of the opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, have urged the government to introduce legislation restoring full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and granting Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh.
Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and Rahul Gandhi, his counterpart in the Lok Sabha, stated that it has been five years since Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated and downgraded to a Union Territory. During this time, the people of the region have persistently called for the restoration of their full statehood, a demand they described as “legitimate and firmly grounded in constitutional and democratic rights.”
The opposition leaders reminded the Prime Minister that he himself has publicly assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir that statehood would be restored. They noted that the conversion of a state into a Union Territory is “without precedent in independent India,” and stressed that the government, including Home Minister Amit Shah, had made repeated commitments to reversing this change.
They called on the government to act on its promises and introduce the necessary Bills in the forthcoming parliamentary session to restore full statehood to the region. The revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in August 2019 through the reading down of Article 370 had sparked widespread political and public opposition, with assurances from the Centre that the move would be followed by restoration of statehood at an appropriate time.
Chief minister Omar Abdullah, who was elected to his post in the first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir in ten years and whose National Conference is a co-constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc along with the Congress, thanked Kharge and Gandhi for their letter.
Abdullah, whose party is part of the opposition INDIA bloc, said the people of Jammu and Kashmir had long awaited such a move from national leaders. “It is a very good thing. We have been waiting for the day when the opposition’s voice will ring loud in Parliament and in Delhi. I am grateful to Kharge ji and Rahul Gandhi ji for raising the issue,” he said on Wednesday.
Abdullah further emphasised that the demand for statehood is not new or unreasonable, noting that it has been promised repeatedly—in Parliament, in the Supreme Court, and in public addresses. He also pointed out that even the Supreme Court has directed the Union government to grant statehood “as soon as possible” and “at the earliest,” and added, “We have said that ‘as soon as possible’ has long passed.”
In their communication to the Prime Minister, Kharge and Gandhi also urged that Ladakh be brought under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. They argued that such a step would meaningfully address the cultural, developmental, and political aspirations of the tribal-majority region, while safeguarding its people’s rights, land, and identity.
The demand for Sixth Schedule inclusion has been led by civil society groups in Ladakh, who seek greater autonomy in matters such as land use, public health, and agriculture. The Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, both of which represent Ladakh’s major population centres, have placed four key demands before the Union Home Ministry. These include Sixth Schedule status, full statehood for Ladakh, the allocation of two parliamentary seats for the region, and the establishment of a separate public service commission.
Talks between the Union Home Ministry and Ladakhi representatives are ongoing, but no official nod has been given so far.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament is set to begin on Monday, July 21.