Jammu Kashmir's statehood must be restored: Rahul Gandhi reiterates

New Delhi: Governing Jammu and Kashmir from Delhi does not make any sense, as the congress leader and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said reiterating the need for restoring the region's statehood. He said so when he was interacting with Kashmiri women during his visit to the region last week, PTI reported.

"My problem with the PM (Narendra Modi) is that he does not listen to anyone. I have a problem with someone who, from the beginning, believes that they are right. Even if he sees something that is showing him that he is wrong, he will not accept it. So then that type of person will always create some problem or another," Gandhi tells the Kashmiri women students.

"It comes from insecurity, it does not come from strength. It comes from weakness," he adds.

In the video, Gandhi also talks about the upcoming elections in Jammu and Kashmir and tells the students that it is the first time in Indian history that statehood has been taken away from a state.

"We are clear; the way it was done, we did not like it. But, now, for us, the principle is to get the statehood back, and that includes representation of the people of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh. This status of running Kashmir, running Jammu from Delhi does not make any sense," Gandhi says.

In a message accompanying the video he posted on his YouTube channel, Gandhi said that during his recent visit to Jammu and Kashmir, he had the opportunity to meet several Kashmiri students in Srinagar.

"These girls are enrolled in various colleges, studying subjects like law, physics, journalism, and political science – I understood their expectations and challenges deeply. We spoke about the Kolkata incident and its broader implications, particularly regarding the harassment of women," Gandhi said in his post.

The students shared their concerns about how such incidents reflect systemic issues that need addressing and how they impact women's safety and dignity across regions, he said.