Srinagar, August 6: Former Jammu and Kashmir interlocutor Prof. Radha Kumar has said the Centre missed a crucial opportunity to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir following the Pahalgam terror attack, arguing that the Valley’s public rejection of violence should have been met with a political confidence-building measure.
Speaking to reporters, Kumar said the spontaneous peace marches and widespread condemnation of the attack by Kashmiris demonstrated that the people had distanced themselves from violence, making it an appropriate moment for the Union Government to fulfil its repeated assurance of restoring statehood.
She questioned the continued delay despite the Centre’s commitments before the Supreme Court and repeated public assurances, saying the prolonged Union Territory status had deprived the people of Jammu and Kashmir of democratic rights and dignity.
Criticizing the existing governance structure, Kumar, as per the news agency Kashmir News Trust described the dual power arrangement between the elected government and the Lieutenant Governor as “ridiculous” and said the present system had weakened democratic accountability.
She also dismissed speculation that statehood would be restored only after the BJP formed a government in Jammu and Kashmir, remarking that such a scenario was politically unrealistic in the foreseeable future and could indefinitely postpone the restoration of statehood.
Kumar further alleged that the prolonged delay had widened the trust deficit between New Delhi and Kashmir, asserting that militancy was driven by cross-border factors rather than by the people of Kashmir, and therefore could not justify withholding democratic rights from the region.
Her remarks come amid renewed political debate over Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional status and continuing demands by political parties for the restoration of full statehood. [KNT]
