In the heart of Jammu and Kashmir politics, People’s Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti took a sharp swipe at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday. She accused him of boiling down the region’s deep-rooted struggles to just one thing: the push for statehood.
Mufti, posting on X (formerly Twitter), stressed that the real issues in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh go far beyond that. “People here care about dignity, rights, and safeguarding their land, jobs, resources—and yes, special status too,” she wrote. She warned that simplifying it all to statehood plays right into the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) hands, ignoring the bigger picture.
“Violence is never okay, but let’s get this straight,” Mufti added. “Reducing Jammu and Kashmir’s fights to statehood alone, like @OmarAbdullah does, misleads everyone and hides the real complexity.” She pointed to ongoing unrest in Ladakh, where locals are voicing fears over losing control of their land, livelihoods, and cultural identity.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah shared his own frustration over the broken promise of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir. His comments came amid fierce protests in Ladakh, where demonstrators demanded statehood and protection under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution—a move that would give the region more autonomy over local affairs.
Abdullah noted that Ladakh folks weren’t even promised statehood back in 2019, when they celebrated becoming a separate Union Territory after the scrapping of Article 370. But now, they’re furious and feel let down. “Imagine how we in Jammu and Kashmir feel,” he posted on X. “We’ve demanded statehood peacefully and democratically, yet the promise hangs in the air, leaving us betrayed too.”
The Ladakh protests boiled over on Wednesday in Leh, turning violent as crowds clashed with police. Protesters even targeted a local BJP office, highlighting the growing tensions in the region over governance, autonomy, and unkept pledges.
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