NC leaders oppose separate Statehood for Jammu, push for ‘reunification of Ladakh’

Opposing the idea of separate Statehood for the Jammu region, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday (January 6, 2026) said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) aim was to “dismantle and destroy J&K”.

Meanwhile, senior NC leader and Minister Javed Rana called for the “reunification of Ladakh and J&K”.  

“First, Ladakh was destroyed by the BJP by turning it into a separate Union Territory. If they [the BJP] now want to do the same with Jammu, let them. The fact is that the BJP is still unable to control Ladakh. Why destroy Jammu now? Whenever their politics fail, they pitch such ideas. Why didn’t the BJP do it in 2019?” Mr. Abdullah said.

His reaction came in the wake of remarks by BJP leader and former Minister Sham Lal Sharma, who suggested the Jammu region should be granted separate Statehood.

Mr. Sharma’s statement did not reflect ground realities, Mr. Rana said. “There has been no demand for a separate Jammu State from the Pir Panjal Valley and the Chenab Valley. The people in these valleys continue to stand with the idea of a unified Jammu and Kashmir,” Mr. Rana said.

Ladakh, which was carved out by the Centre as a separate Union Territory in 2019, “will once again become part of J&K”, he said. “Restoration of a united J&K is only a matter of time. The Government of India would ultimately have to move towards reunification, maintaining that the idea of a divided Jammu and Kashmir is unsustainable,” Mr. Rana said.

The NC leader suggested that political circumstances “would evolve to see Ladakh reintegrating with J&K”. “History cannot be rewritten permanently. A reunited J&K is inevitable,” Mr. Rana said.

Mr. Abdullah met Mohd Jaffer Akhoon, Chairman and Chief Executive Councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil. 

Mr. Abdullah assured support on issues of mutual interest to Mr. Akhoon, officials said, with Mr. Akhoon raising the issue of students wishing to study in J&K.