National Conference (NC) president and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah on Thursday, 3 September levelled a direct charge against the Lt. Governor-led administration in Jammu and Kashmir, accusing it of orchestrating threats against Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) as part of what he called a deliberate conspiracy to deny the region its statehood. Speaking to reporters in Anantnag, Abdullah said the threats were not the work of militants but of the administration itself.

Abdullah's Core Accusation

Dr Abdullah posed a pointed challenge to the narrative around KP threats. 'Who is issuing the threats? Kashmiri Pandits hardly reside here now. All the top officers posted here are Hindus from outside. The DG, DIGs, SSPs are all Hindus, right?' he said. 'The deputy commissioners are also Hindus. Why aren't they receiving threats? The question is: if Hindus are being threatened, why aren't they (senior officers) facing threats?'

He went further, naming Lt Governor Manoj Sinha — who controls the security apparatus in the Union Territory — as the official who must answer for the situation. 'I am accusing the administration of issuing these threats. They are responsible,' Abdullah said, demanding that the L-G respond publicly.

Statehood Promises and Broken Timelines

Abdullah contextualised the threats within a broader pattern of what he described as the Centre's failure to honour its commitments to Jammu and Kashmir. He recalled that the Union government had pledged a sequence — delimitation, elections, then restoration of statehood — none of which, he argued, had been completed as promised.

He said NC MPs met Home Minister Amit Shah in January, who reportedly assured them that Business Rules would be approved 'within days.' 'It is September now. What happened to that promise?' Abdullah asked. He also noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally pledged statehood restoration, saying there was no need for a fresh appeal since 'it is Modi's promise.'

Veiled Attack on PDP

Without naming the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abdullah took sharp aim at the party that governed J&K in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the revocation of Article 370 in 2019. 'Our enemies are sitting right among us — those who disrupted the entire map of J&K, got Article 370 revoked, got Article 35A revoked. Today, they talk about statehood and Article 370. But they were the ones who dismantled it,' he said.

Rival Protests in Srinagar

The remarks came a day after NC and BJP staged competing protest marches in Srinagar on Wednesday. The NC march was directed against the Centre's failure to restore statehood despite Supreme Court assurances and ministerial commitments; the BJP march accused the NC-led state government of 'failure on all fronts.'

Security forces intercepted both marches — preventing NC protesters from reaching BJP headquarters in Jawahar Nagar and BJP protesters from reaching the civil secretariat in Batmaloo. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah alleged that police used force against NC protesters while offering 'cold drinks' to BJP demonstrators, a charge that underscored the deepening political friction in the Valley.

What Comes Next

The statehood question remains unresolved and is likely to intensify as a political fault line ahead of any future electoral cycle. With the NC government pressing the Centre and the BJP on the defensive over its own promises, the Lt. Governor's administration now faces public pressure to respond to Abdullah's specific accusations regarding KP threats. The Supreme Court's earlier observations on statehood restoration add a legal dimension that neither side can easily sidestep.