Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Saturday said the continued denial of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir amounts to the “greatest humiliation of democracy,” asserting that a fight for statehood is a fight for existence and identity.
Khurshid said in a federal democracy, statehood is central to identity — not only for individuals and political parties, but for states themselves.
“Your democratic struggle is a struggle for your existence. Existence means statehood. In a federal democracy, a state has its own identity, and that identity has been interfered with and diminished,” he said.
The senior Congress leader was here to address a press conference as part of the party’s nationwide campaign on the issues of MGNREGA.
The former union minister said there could be no greater insult to democratic principles than undermining a state’s identity. “This humiliation is against democracy itself,” he added.
Khurshid also referred to the assurance given by the Centre to the Supreme Court that statehood would be restored after the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir. He said the top court refrained from adjudicating the federalism question on the basis of that assurance.
“The government told the Supreme Court that whatever had to be done, right or wrong, had been done, and that statehood would be restored soon. That is why the court did not decide further into the issue of federalism,” he said.
Questioning the delay, Khurshid said a significant amount of time has passed but the promise remains unfulfilled. He also criticised what he described as the Centre giving a “special label” to statehood, asserting that statehood itself represents a special status and identity.
He expressed hope that the ongoing democratic struggle for statehood would succeed at the earliest.
When asked about INDIA bloc constituent National Conference (NC) vice president and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah distancing himself from the ‘Vote Chori’ campaign, Khurshid said that any difference, if any in the alliance, would be resolved among allies themselves.
“If he (Omar) believes that the campaign is unnecessary, I’m sure he will speak to top leaders… It’s not fair for me to comment on it,” Khurshid said.
Responding to a question on whether the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir — a constituent of the ruling alliance in the union Territory — had given “too much room” to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to criticise it, Khurshid said alliance politics cannot come at the cost of a party’s identity.
“The Congress is a democratic party. Whoever leads the party in a state is a top democrat and must have the elbow room to respond. You cannot be just a mute spectator,” he said.
Khurshid, however, stressed that leaders must themselves judge the limits of that space and operate within it. He said alliances are built on cooperation, not on the erasure of individual party identities.
“When you form an alliance, you do not write off your own identity completely. Even for the sake of the alliance, you have to keep your identity alive,” he said.
The former union minister added that greater internal dialogue among alliance partners on sensitive issues would strengthen cooperation.
He said the opposition INDIA alliance formed by national parties was a collective decision taken by top leaders and had proved successful in the parliamentary elections, even if it did not achieve complete success.
Khurshid said any differences or concerns within the alliance should be addressed by the leaders themselves and not be subjected to public commentary. “If there are issues, the leaders will resolve them among themselves,” he said.
Emphasising the nature of political alliances, Khurshid said an alliance does not negate the existence of independent political parties.
“Parties come together to share a common programme and plan, but they do not give up their individual identities or ideologies,” he said, adding that while a shared ideology binds the alliance, constituent parties must continue to function independently.
