Seven years after the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, Congress MP and party in-charge for J&K and Ladakh affairs, Syed Naseer Hussain, has accused the Centre of reducing the region's elected government to a “government just in name” by repeatedly deferring the promised restoration of statehood. The charge was levelled in a statement issued on Wednesday, 5 August 2025, marking the seventh anniversary of the constitutional change.

The Unfulfilled Four-Stage Roadmap

Hussain argued that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union Government had itself outlined a four-stage roadmap for J&K's political future — reorganisation, delimitation, elections, and restoration of statehood — and has completed all but the final, most consequential step. Reorganisation was completed in October 2019, delimitation in May 2022, and assembly elections were held from September to October 2024, resulting in the installation of an elected government. Statehood, Hussain contended, “alone has been consigned to indefinite suspension.”

Seven Assurances, Zero Timelines

The Congress leader catalogued at least seven separate occasions on which Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah personally reaffirmed the statehood commitment, yet never specified a date, a bill, or a parliamentary session for its fulfilment. These include Home Minister Shah's statement in the Rajya Sabha on 5 August 2019 that statehood would be restored “at an appropriate time”; a similar assurance in the Lok Sabha on 13 February 2021; a Rajya Sabha reiteration on 11 December 2023 — the same day the Supreme Court directed restoration “at the earliest and as soon as possible”; Prime Minister Modi's declaration on 20 May 2024 that it was “a solemn promise we have made and we stand by it”; a Jammu rally on 8 September 2024; a Srinagar rally on 19 September 2024; and most recently at the Times Now Summit on 29 March 2025. “Not once, across seven years and seven reaffirmations, has either leader named a date, a bill, or a parliamentary session for fulfilling this constitutional obligation,” Hussain asserted.

Congress Calls It Democratic Travesty

Describing the current arrangement as a “democratic travesty,” Hussain argued that the elected government of Jammu and Kashmir functions “shorn of the powers that are the constitutional entitlement of every other State.” He pointed to the continued authority of an unelected Lieutenant Governor, appointed by and answerable solely to New Delhi, who exercises “overriding executive authority over matters that rightfully belong to the people's elected representatives.” “This is not federalism; it is its calculated inversion,” Hussain said.

Kharge-Gandhi Letter to PM Goes Unanswered

Hussain also referenced a letter dated 16 July 2025, jointly sent by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to the Prime Minister, stating that the restoration of full statehood “is not a concession but a legitimate constitutional and democratic demand of its people.” According to Hussain, “that letter, like every assurance before it, has met with silence.”

Congress Demands Immediate, Unconditional Statehood

The Congress MP concluded with unequivocal demands: that “full statehood of Jammu & Kashmir must be restored immediately and unconditionally” and that the people of the region “must be permitted to govern themselves through institutions vested with complete constitutional authority.” “Seven years is long enough. The people of Jammu & Kashmir are not subjects to be ruled from Delhi; they are citizens of India, equal in constitutional standing, entitled to the same dignity of self-rule as every other State,” Hussain said. The Centre has not issued a public response to the statement as of the time of writing.