The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress party staged a protest at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday, pressing for the restoration of full statehood to the Union Territory. Led by Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, AICC J&K in-charge Naseer Hussain, and J&K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra, the demonstration highlighted the party’s demand to reverse the 2019 downgrade of J&K from a state to a Union Territory.

Venugopal, in a post on X, called the downgrade an “unacceptable democratic backsliding” and an “insult” to J&K’s people. “I joined the J&KPCC protest to demand full statehood restoration and defend the Constitution,” he stated, urging the government to honor parliamentary promises without delay. The Congress has vowed to raise the issue in the ongoing Monsoon session, with party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi recently writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to push for legislation granting full statehood.

In their July 15 letter, Kharge and Gandhi emphasized that the people of J&K have consistently demanded statehood for five years, a right they described as “legitimate” and rooted in constitutional and democratic principles. The 2019 revocation of Article 370, which stripped J&K of its special status and statehood, remains a contentious issue, with the Supreme Court upholding the move in 2023 but urging statehood restoration.

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The protest, attended by over 200 party workers, saw slogans like “Statehood Do, Vada Nibhao” (Grant statehood, fulfill the promise). Karra accused the BJP-led government of delaying tactics, warning of escalated agitations if demands are unmet by the session’s end on August 12.

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