JAMMU: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in New Delhi of pursuing divisive policies in the region, claiming that after “ruining” Ladakh, it is now attempting to separate Jammu from Kashmir.
Speaking to reporters in Jammu, Omar Abdullah said the separation of Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 had resulted in misgovernance and neglect, arguing that the move had failed to deliver on the promises made by the Indian government at the time.
He said Ladakh was turned into a Union Territory only to be “mishandled and ruined” by New Delhi, adding that the region was now facing serious administrative and political challenges.
Reacting to recent remarks by BJP leader and Jammu North legislator Sham Lal Sharma, who called for separate statehood for Jammu, Omar Abdullah said such statements reflected a dangerous political trend. Although the BJP later described Sharma’s comments as his personal opinion, Abdullah said the demand could not be viewed in isolation and raised serious concerns about New Delhi’s intentions.
He questioned why the BJP was raising the issue of Jammu’s statehood now, noting that it was the same party that oversaw the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. He said that if the BJP genuinely cared about Jammu’s status, it should have addressed the issue at the time when the region was stripped of its statehood.
“Why is this concern emerging now? It suggests that their politics has failed somewhere, and this is an attempt to divert attention,” he said.
Omar Abdullah warned that proposals to separate Jammu from Kashmir risked further fragmenting the region and deepening divisions. He said such ideas raised fears of political and religious engineering, adding that attempts to redraw internal boundaries would only weaken Jammu and Kashmir as a whole. “On what basis do they want to divide it further? They accuse others, yet they themselves are dismantling Jammu and Kashmir,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, in Srinagar, cabinet minister Javed Ahmad Rana said Ladakh would eventually be reunited with Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that India would have no alternative in the long run. He expressed regret over what he described as the gradual disintegration of a region that once held full statehood.
Javed Rana said the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir had undermined its political and administrative cohesion, adding that the consequences of the 2019 decision were becoming increasingly evident.
On August 5, 2019, India revoked Article 370 and bifurcated the internationally disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The move stripped the region of its special status and statehood, triggering widespread criticism and political fallout that continues to shape developments in the region.
