Srinagar: If ‘Azaadi’ was the war cry of the nineties, today the Valley, along with the Jammu region, is resonating with a rare show of unanimity to the cry of restoration of statehood. No political party can ignore it.

Five-time J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah has stated publicly that the first resolution the J&K assembly will pass will be the demand for the restoration of statehood. As against this, Home Minister Amit Shah, during his visit to Jammu assured the public that that the government was committed to the restoration of statehood. But he added to it the caveat `at an appropriate time,’ post the assembly elections. And that is where the rub is.

Disgruntlement against the BJP and its stepmotherly treatment towards these two vital UTs is running high across the Jammu region. The public here is in no mood to forgive and forget given that abrogation of Article 370 did not bring the benefits they had been promised. On the contrary, they have seen their lands and jobs being handed over to outsiders resulting in the second highest unemployment rate across the country, according to NITI Aayog stats.

As one shopkeeper said on condition of anonymity, ‘‘There is 28 per cent unemployment amongst our youth while the figure for women is 48.6 per cent. The cancellation of the 149-year-old tradition of the shifting of Capital, called the `Darbar Move,’ during the winter months, has adversely affected our business. Tourists are going to the Valley while people in Katara are........

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