SRINAGAR, Jun 5: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday asserted that Article 370 never impeded Jammu and Kashmir’s development and rejected the claim that its abrogation has brought about any extraordinary economic transformation in the region.
Speaking at The Hindu Huddle, Abdullah said Jammu and Kashmir’s developmental challenges stemmed primarily from decades of militancy and instability, which discouraged investment and economic activity, rather than from its former special constitutional status.
“Article 370 was never a cause of any lack of development in Jammu and Kashmir, nor has its revocation suddenly resulted in massive development,” the Chief Minister said.
The National Conference leader argued that perceptions of insecurity had inflicted the greatest damage on the region’s economy over the past three decades.
“People will not invest money in a part of the country that they deem to be unsafe. The perception that Jammu and Kashmir was an unsafe place to visit or do business in is what hurt us, not Article 370,” he said.
Abdullah also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using Article 370 as a political issue while overlooking similar constitutional protections that continue to exist in other parts of the country.
He pointed out that restrictions on land ownership and entry permits remain in regions such as Lakshadweep and several northeastern states, yet those provisions rarely attract the same level of political scrutiny.
“The only thing that was talked about was Jammu and Kashmir and the fact that you couldn’t buy land there. That was the stick used to beat us with,” he said.
The Chief Minister reiterated that restoration of statehood remains the foremost objective of his government and expressed concern over the absence of a clear roadmap for achieving it.
“My target is to achieve statehood, yet I have no idea what goals I have to achieve to reach that point,” Abdullah said.
He maintained that the restoration of full statehood would strengthen governance and improve administrative efficiency in Jammu and Kashmir. According to him, the powers of an elected government remain constrained under the existing Union Territory framework.
“It is better to be a state than a Union Territory. That is what we are trying to correct,” he added.
Abdullah’s remarks come amid continued political debate over the impact of the August 2019 decision that revoked Article 370 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The Chief Minister has repeatedly maintained that the restoration of statehood is essential for strengthening democratic institutions and ensuring greater administrative accountability in the region.
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