The Supreme Court of India on August 14, highlighted the importance of factoring in on-the-ground security conditions while considering the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, pointing to the April Pahalgam terror attack as an incident that “cannot be ignored.”
“You also have to take into consideration the ground realities; you cannot ignore what has happened in Pahalgam,” Chief Justice BR Gavai remarked during the hearing.
The observation came as the bench, comprising CJI Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran, heard petitions filed by college teacher Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and activist Khurshid Ahmad Malik. They argue that denying statehood undermines citizens’ rights and violates the principle of federalism, a core element of the Constitution’s basic structure.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, told the court: “We assured statehood after elections. There is a peculiar position of this part of our country. I don’t know why this issue is so agitated now. This particular State is not the correct State to muddy the water… eight weeks may be given.”
The bench granted the request, adjourning the matter for eight weeks to allow the Centre to seek instructions.
On August 5, 2019, the Union government revoked Article 370, splitting the erstwhile state into two Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir (with a legislative assembly) and Ladakh (without one). The government has repeatedly stated that J&K’s statehood will be restored “at the right time.”
Last year, the National Conference–Congress alliance came to power in J&K after a decade without Assembly polls, with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah calling for the early restoration of statehood.
The court’s remarks follow the April 22, 2025, terror attack in Pahalgam, where 25 Hindu tourists and a local pony operator were killed by terrorists linked to The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot.
In retaliation, India launched air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan’s Punjab, repelled drone and missile attacks from across the border, and targeted Pakistani airbases. Indian security forces later tracked down and killed the attackers near Srinagar.
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