Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday hinted at an early decision on the return of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, Meghwal said “you will soon hear about a decision” on the issue.

Reacting to Meghwal’s comment, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that “no one will be satisfied” unless statehood is granted, and hoped the wait would not be long.

“See, you have raised an important issue. It is a sensitive issue,” Meghwal said. “See, the Home Minister has said in the Lok Sabha that you will get this right. It has a process and I feel that you will soon get to hear a decision (about it).”

Meghwal, however, didn’t elaborate, nor did say what the decision would be.

While Meghwal’s comment has renewed a hope of the return of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar showed cautious optimism.

“Nobody among us would be satisfied till we get it (statehood),” Omar said while reacting to Meghwal’s comment. “Okay, a process is going on. We feel the process has already taken long. We had hoped to get statehood by now. We didn’t get it but we have not lost hope.”

Omar said his government is in constant engagement with the Centre.

“Sitting on the side, I was also listening to the mantri ji. Mantri ji said that perhaps we would get good news regarding the statehood,” he said. “We are waiting for that good news from the last one and a half years. We hope we will not have to wait longer now.”

The Centre had abrogated Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019. While the Centre promised return of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir on the floor of the House, no decision has been taken as of now. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year said that the decision would be taken at an “appropriate time”.