Group takes to streets in Jammu demanding statehood for J&K
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Jammu: Demanding the restoration of statehood for Jammu & Kashmir, the Yuva Rajput Sabha (YRS) took out a protest rally in Jammu on Friday. The group also threatened to start an indefinite hunger strike if their demand is not met, PTI reported.
The YRS, a non-political organisation of Rajputs in Jammu, has been fighting for the cause of Dogras of the region for decades.
Scores of YRS activists led by their president Vikram Singh assembled at the statue of the last Dogra ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, near the Tawi bridge in the heart of the city and held demonstrations in support of their demand.
"We held a protest here in support of our demand for restoration of statehood in Jammu and Kashmir," Singh told reporters here.
"We will launch an indefinite hunger strike here if the government fails to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir. All people should support us," he added.
In 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party floated the promise of "integration" of Jammu and Kashmir in their poll manifesto for the Lok Sabha Elections that year. The BJP and its allies made a landslide victory across the country in the general elections, and on August 5th itself, the party-led NDA government issued a presidential order to and suspended a 1954 order that gave special status to the region, which was a state till 2019. The BJP government withdrew Article 370, withdrew the region's statehood, and divided the state into union territories.