New Delhi: Indian lawmaker Kapil Sibal described the reduction of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) to a Union Territory as a “constitutional felony” on Thursday, calling for the restoration of its statehood and Article 370.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Sibal’s comments followed the swearing-in of National Conference leader Omar Abdullah as the Chief Minister of IIOJK. Abdullah, 54, took the oath alongside five other ministers—three from the Jammu region and two from the Kashmir Valley—turning what Sibal termed “another page in IIOJK’s troubled history.”
Sibal emphasized that it is high time for the Indian government to reinstate the state’s status and the provisions of Article 370, which was abrogated in 2019, stripping the region of its autonomy.