Srinagar, 5 August

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the "wounds" of the people had not yet healed seven years after the abrogation of Article 370, asserting that the Centre's promise to restore statehood to the Union Territory remained unfulfilled.

Abdullah said the people had hoped that at least some of their grievances would be addressed through the restoration of statehood.

"Our wounds have not yet healed. We had hoped that some of the pain would be addressed and that the promise of restoring statehood would be fulfilled. But today marks seven years since August 5, 2019, and that promise remains unfulfilled," the chief minister told reporters in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district.

The BJP-led central government abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019, revoking the special constitutional status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating it into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The chief minister said the commitment made by the Centre was yet to be honoured and reiterated his government's stand on the issue.

"As we said while passing the resolution in the Assembly, we remain firm in our stand and will continue to seek justice for the injustices done to us," Abdullah said.

Earlier in a post on X handle, Abdullah reiterated his commitment to reversing the Centre's decisions, saying the ruling National Conference has not accepted the "current circumstances".

"Seven years, we haven't forgotten and we haven't reconciled far less accepted our current circumstances. My party and I remain committed to reversing all that was done to J-K that took away our rights and threatens our identity," he said in the post.

He ended his message with a line from American poet Robert Frost's 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening', "The woods are lovely, dark & deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep....."

To mark the day, the ruling National Conference workers led by senior party leaders held protests across Jammu and Kashmir including the twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu on Wednesday, demanding restoration of the special status of the erstwhile state.

Scores of NC leaders, MLAs and workers, led by Minister Sakina Itoo, assembled at the party headquarters, Nawa-i-Subah, in Srinagar and took out a protest march.

Carrying placards in support of statehood and Article 370, the protesters tried to take the march out of the party office complex but were stopped by police.

Similar protests were also held in Jammu and various other district headquarters across the region.