"Disappointed but not...": Omar Abdullah after SC verdict on Article 370

In response to the Supreme Court's landmark judgment upholding the Centre's decision to abrogate Article 370, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah expressed disappointment.

"Disappointed but not disheartened. The struggle will continue. It took the BJP decades to reach here. We are also prepared for the long haul. #WeShallOvercome #Article370" he wrote on X.

Disappointed but not disheartened. The struggle will continue. It took the BJP decades to reach here. We are also prepared for the long haul. #WeShallOvercome#Article370

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 11, 2023

"Azad Sb is truly Azad. He’s free to visit his party office while some of us are locked up with our gates chained. Media personnel aren’t being allowed on Gupkar road to take any reactions from us. Mother of democracy? More like aise taise Democracy," he wrote in another tweet.

Azad Sb is truly Azad. He’s free to visit his party office while some of us are locked up with our gates chained. Media personnel aren’t being allowed on Gupkar road to take any reactions from us. Mother of democracy? More like aise taise Democracy. https://t.co/RmfJoo6SpE

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 11, 2023

Leaders from various Opposition parties voiced their disappointment following the verdict. Ghulam Nabi Azad, a senior leader, expressed sadness, acknowledging the dissatisfaction of the people of J&K but emphasized the need to accept the decision. In contrast, Congress leader Karan Singh, son of the erstwhile king Maharaja Hari Singh, welcomed the judgment, advising those opposing the abrogation to focus on future elections rather than resisting a concluded legal matter.

Singh suggested, "A section of people in J&K who will not be happy with this judgment, my sincere advice is that they should accept the inevitable... the Supreme Court has upheld the action, and therefore there's no point now unnecessarily hitting their head against the wall."

The Supreme Court's verdict on Monday upheld the abrogation of Article 370, a temporary provision that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The decision was part of the court's hearing on petitions filed by the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC) challenging the abrogation. In 2019, Article 370 was revoked, leading to the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

In its judgment, the apex court emphasized that not every decision of the Centre can be challenged, stating, "Jammu and Kashmir did not retain its sovereignty when it decided to join the Union of India." The court also urged the Centre to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest and directed the Election Commission to conduct elections in the region by September 30, 2024.