Politics is shaped as much by patience as by power. Governments change, alliances shift, and narratives evolve, but questions involving history, identity, and constitutional arrangements are rarely settled by a single moment.

For Jammu and Kashmir, the debate after August 5, 2019, has largely revolved around two interconnected issues, the restoration of statehood and the larger constitutional questions surrounding Articles 370 and 35A. These debates are often presented as competing objectives. They need not be.Statehood should not be viewed as an alternative to broader constitutional aspirations. Rather, it is the foundation upon which any future political engagement can take place with New Delhi. In a federal democracy, the voice of an elected state government carries a different constitutional weight from that of a Union Territory administration. Restoring statehood would allow Jammu and Kashmir’s elected leadership to engage with New Delhi from a position of greater institutional legitimacy and equality.

The events of August 5, 2019, fundamentally altered Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional and political landscape. The abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A........

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