Hundreds protest in Delhi demanding statehood for occupied Kashmir

Hundreds of people led by the chief minister of India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) shouted slogans and staged a protest in the capital Delhi on Monday, demanding statehood for the region, seven years after it revoked the disputed region’s autonomy by abrogating Article 370.

Protesters were stopped by police from staging their demonstration, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a post on X, which had videos and pictures of people holding posters and shouting slogans.

“This is only the beginning of our struggle for statehood, our rights, our dignity and everything that was taken away from us,” Abdullah said in the post.

In August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the partial autonomy of the occupied Kashmir state, removed its statehood and divided it into two federally controlled territories: held Kashmir with Jammu, and Ladakh.

The government has since said statehood to the Himalayan region will be restored at the “appropriate time” but has not given a deadline.

Abdullah and his party, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, have said statehood should be restored at the earliest, in keeping with the government’s promise.

India-occupied Kashmir’s chief minister, Omar Abdullah, holds a sign saying “Restore rights & dignity of people of J&K” at a protest in Delhi on July 20, 2026. —X/OmarAbdullah

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders claim the protest is an attempt to divert attention from what they allege are governance failures of Abdullah’s government.

“It is the misfortune of the people of Jammu and Kashmir that today we have to come to Delhi to protest and remind our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of their promise,” IoK’s Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said, according to Press Trust of India.

“You promised the people of Jammu and Kashmir that you would restore statehood after the elections. Today, it has been nearly a year and a half, and neither the prime minister nor the home minister has fulfilled that promise,” Choudhary pointed out. ...