The floor of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was virtually converted into a battleground between the members of the Treasury and Opposition benches for the second consecutive day after the Speaker failed to take action against one of the legislators, who dropped into the well-displaying poster which highlighted the demand for restoration of Articles 370, 35-A and release of political prisoners.
As Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members strongly protested and raised objections blaming the speaker for not preventing Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Langate Sheikh Rasheed with a banner from roaming freely in the well of the house, pandemonium prevailed. Some of the members including Sajad Lone of the Peoples Conference, and Waheed Ur Rehman Para of the PDP came to blows with the BJP legislators while snatching the banner displayed by the MLA from Langate, the speaker ordered to marshal out some of the BJP legislators from the house.
As left-out BJP legislators along with the Leader of the opposition Sunil Sharma stood their ground in the house the speaker decided to adjourn the house without transacting any business. After a brief pause when the house was reconvened, it again witnessed acrimonious scenes. The speaker again adjourned the house till tomorrow.
The Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution asking the Centre to work out a Constitutional mechanism for restoring special status to Jammu and Kashmir that was revoked on August 5, 2019. The resolution was hailed by Valley-based political parties while it prompted protests by the main opposition BJP which demanded its rollback.
Reacting to the developments in the house, the BJP said it was “unfortunate” that the ruling National Conference has “compromised the integrity” of the assembly, and made a “joke” of democracy by bringing a resolution that questions a decision of the country’s Parliament.
“This is a fraud, a drama that has been attempted with the people of J-K,” BJP MLA from Ramnagar, RS Pathania, told reporters after the Assembly was adjourned for the day following an uproar over the special status resolution.
“Article 370 is history now. The Supreme Court has said that there is nothing like special status. It is as simple as that. This assembly which is a statute under the Reorganisation Act cannot question Parliament and the Supreme Court. There is no question of that,” he said.
Pathania said the resolution, which was passed through a voice vote by the assembly on Wednesday, was “a piece of paper, a piece of scrap”, and “even if a peon or a clerk receives it, he will throw it into the dustbin”.
Interacting with the media outside the Assembly hall, Leader of the Opposition, Sunil Sharma, also blamed the Speaker for “allowing” Sheikh Khursheed into the well of the House with a banner. “An MLA was allowed with a banner. Is there any such precedence in this House? The speaker and the assembly staff allowed him. He (the Speaker) turned on the microphones of the treasury benches to show that he was the speaker of the NC and not of the House. The House was turned into a fish market,” Sunil Sharma said.
When asked if the BJP members had stood at the tables of the assembly, the LoP said the opposition members had no choice as they were not allowed to speak. “LoP was standing and his microphone was turned off. Our MLAs were marshalled out, so what option do we have?” he said. “I challenge Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to show the article under which the NC is demanding special status for J-K,” Sunil Sharma said, adding the article says it is a temporary provision till the Indian Constitution is fully implemented in J-K.
“There is nothing called special status. Special status is (National Conference founder) Sheikh Abdullah’s Constitution which is there in the Gupkar house of (NC president) Farooq Abdullah in which it is written that Kashmiri Pandits be thrown out from here and killed,” he said.
“What has happened on August 5, 2019, is now history. Special status cannot be repeated (restored) now,” the LoP added.
Referring to the conduct of the deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary and minister Satish Sharma - both of whom are from Jammu, BJP MLA RS Pathania said, “There are some Jaichands from Jammu, but they have been exposed now”.
“People have understood what they did. They have kneeled before the pro-Pakistan and pro-separatist narrative. This narrative is a fraud and there is no legal or constitutional basis of that narrative. This narrative has resulted in the killings of security forces personnel and civilians,” the MLA said.
Referring to the brawl that took place in the assembly between the BJP MLAs and the marshals, BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma said the blame lies with Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather. “The members do not have the right to bring such posters inside the assembly. We wanted to know how the speaker allowed that. Where was the security check? The situation in J-K is such today that if there is any doubt on any member, then he should be searched, he can bring anything inside. “It started from there, so the fault lies with the Speaker. The banner should have been snatched away from him. He should have been marshalled out like the members of the BJP were,” he said.
The BJP MLA from Chenani, Balwant Singh Mankotia, while referring to the fresh resolution moved by PDP, Peoples’ Conference and others, said this is “emotional blackmail” of the people. “We will not allow the people of J-K to be befooled. We will not allow the NC, Congress and Kashmir-centric parties to emotionally blackmail the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather on Thursday rejected the BJP demand for either rolling back the special status resolution passed by the House or stepping down, and said if the party does not have faith in him it should bring a no-confidence motion.
He also rebuked the party for its “cheap sloganeering” and said he cannot tolerate members entering into the Well of the House and stomping over the national emblem placed on the Assembly Secretary’s chair. “They (BJP) are asking the Speaker to take back the resolution. The Speaker does not have the powers. Anything passed by the House can only be undone by the House itself. Speakers cannot do it. The Speaker has limited powers in these issues… he has to preside, count and give decisions based on the facts before him,” Rather said.
