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On August 5, Jammu & Kashmir observed the seventh anniversary of the reading down of Article 370 and the demotion of the state into two Union Territories. The Modi government’s 2019 decision remains a major faultline in the politics of the region. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) celebrated the event as the completion of J&Ks constitutional integration with India, while Kashmiri parties like the National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – who see it as a reminder of unresolved political and constitutional grievances – organised protests.

The Congress also observed August 5 as a “Black Day” with its leaders criticising the downgrading of the state into a UT and calling for the restoration of statehood.

Despite the change of status – or perhaps because of it – J&K’s politics has witnessed a noticeable dynamism, as manifested by the participation in the Lok Sabha elections of 2024 and the UT Assembly polls that led to an elected government currently headed by Omar Abdullah. In an interview to Karan Thapar in The Wire, Omar has expressed frustration at the pace of developments. He indicated that he had gone out of his way to work with the Union government, which is in effective control of the UT, but all that has happened is that he has lost political capital in the process without commensurate returns.

Essentially, he is talking about the restoration of statehood. The Supreme Court Constitution Bench that upheld the reading down of Article 370 in a judgement of 2023 had also called on the Election Commission to conduct the assembly elections by September 30, 2024. Importantly it had asked for the restoration of complete statehood for J-K at........

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