Senior Congress leader and former Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram has said that the BJP-led Indian government has committed a serious breach of promise by failing to restore statehood to occupied Jammu and Kashmir despite assurances made before the Supreme Court.
Chidambaram, in an article published in the Indian Express, clarified that the Supreme Court had not upheld the so-called “abrogation” of Article 370, but had in fact declared the steps taken by the Modi regime on August 5, 2019, to be unconstitutional and impermissible. He wrote that the government’s move to alter Article 367, amend Article 370(3), and subsequently abrogate Article 370 was struck down by the Court, which only upheld the application of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370(1).
Chidambaram stressed that the Modi government had promised the Supreme Court that statehood would be restored by September 30, 2024, but despite elections being held, the territory remains downgraded to a Union Territory — an undeniable betrayal. He held the BJP and its allies responsible for dragging their feet on the issue, noting that deprivation of statehood is a major grievance of the Kashmiri people.
He also referred to the recent Pahalgam attack, pointing out that the silence of the authorities regarding those arrested has only deepened people’s disillusionment. Chidambaram warned that the Supreme Court must not be distracted by political and security issues but should instead focus on delivering justice on the constitutional question, stressing that the promise made to the Court has remained unfulfilled for 20 months.
