Disappointed, but struggle will continue: JK leaders on Article 370 verdict

National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah on Monday said he is disappointed but not disheartened with the Supreme Court's verdict on pleas challenging the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution.

"Disappointed but not disheartened. The struggle will continue," Abdullah said in a post on X.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said it took the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decades to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 and added that they are also prepared for the long haul.

"It took the BJP decades to reach here. We are also prepared for the long haul," he said.

Democratic Progressive Azad Party chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad termed the verdict "sad and unfortunate", but said "we have to accept it".

"It (the court verdict) is sad and unfortunate," Azad told reporters Srinagar.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said the people of the region are not happy with the verdict delivered by a five-judge bench of the apex court.

"But we have to accept it (the verdict)," he added.

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Centre's August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370, which bestowed a special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and said steps should be taken to conduct elections to the Assembly in the Union Territory by September 30 next year.

The apex court also directed that statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir be restored at the earliest.