Kashmiris demand statehood at Delhi protest

NEW DELHI:

Hundreds of people led by the IIOJK chief minister 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 IIOJK, removed its statehood and divided it into two federally controlled territories: held Kashmir with Jammu, and Ladakh. Reuters