Indian-Administered Kashmir Assembly Backs Return To Statehood
It is the latest twist in the long-running contentious debate about rule in the Himalayan territory of around 13 million people, ever since Modi's Hindu nationalist government revoked Kashmir's limited autonomy in 2019.
Recommended For YouChief Minister Omar Abdullah, who introduced the resolution, said that statehood was the territory's "right".
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Members of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party staged a walkout before the vote, with many of them calling the resolution "unconstitutional" and "anti-national".
It calls upon the government in New Delhi, which has repeatedly promised restoration of statehood at an "appropriate time", to ensure "the immediate and urgent restoration of full (federal) statehood to Jammu and Kashmir".
The text also referred to resolutions demanding federal autonomy, passed in 2000 and 2024. All three are not constitutionally binding.
In 2024, Kashmir elected its first government since it was brought under New Delhi's direct control, led by Abdullah's National Conference party.
But the local government has limited powers. The territory continues to be, for all practical purposes, governed by a Delhi-appointed administrator.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence from British rule in 1947.
Both countries claim it in full, with several conflicts between the nuclear-armed neighbours, most recently last year.
Rebel groups launched an insurgency in 1989 against Indian rule of Kashmir, demanding independence or its merger with Pakistan.
About 500,000 Indian troops are deployed in the region, and the insurgency has been largely crushed.
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