Omar Abdullah: If guns decide statehood, Pakistan will decide

SRINAGAR: CM Omar Abdullah said Monday that making J&K statehood conditional on the end of militancy would effectively give Pakistan a say in its restoration, as the assembly passed a resolution for full statehood and set off a BJP walkout over its reference to a 2000 autonomy demand.Omar moved the resolution that calls on Union govt to restore full statehood. It refers to the 2000 assembly resolution accepting the state autonomy committee report and seeking greater autonomy, and a 2024 resolution seeking special status and constitutional guarantees for J&K.National Conference, Congress, PDP, Peoples Conference, Awami Ithaad Party and CPM supported it.BJP’s Sunil Sharma called the resolution “anti-constitutional” and “anti-secular”, saying its reference to the 2000 autonomy resolution amounted to seeking restoration of J&K’s “pre-1953 position”. BJP said it supports restoration of statehood but opposes the resolution in its current form.