On a day when the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly was scheduled to table Bills to amend a beef ban law, a group of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators manhandled an independent legislator for hosting a beef party. The incident triggered massive resentment forcing deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Nirmal Singh to apologise on behalf of his party.
The separate amendment Bills with identical content were not discussed due to paucity of time as Speaker Kavinder Gupta turned down Opposition members’ pleas to continue the sitting beyond schedule. Technically, the private members’ Bill expires when it is not discussed in the House on the scheduled date.
Minutes before the crucial sitting of the Budget Session started on Thursday, a group of BJP legislators grabbed independent legislator Sheikh Abdur Rashid and started beating him up following a verbal duel.
Rashid had hosted a beef party on Wednesday evening at MlA hostel where several BJP legislators also reside. The BJP members had objected to his act at the hostel but they turned violent in the Assembly hall when Rashid showed up in the morning. A group of Opposition National Conference (NC) members came to his rescue.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah likened the incident with lynching of a person in Dadri (UP) and sought Chief Minister’s response over the act. “Whatever we saw today in the House is not possible to understand and accept”, Abdullah said while accusing BJP of staging broad daylight murders. “You are murdering people in broad daylight. Had we not rescued Engineer Rashid, you would have committed another murder here”, he said pointing towards BJP legislators.
Abdullah said his religion (Islam) does not allow consumption of liquor or pork but that does not mean we can inflict violence on people who consume these. Without mentioning ban on beef he said his community’s sentiments are connected with the issue.
Interestingly, various PDP Ministers and legislators also expressed resentment over the manhandling incident.
Sensing mood of the House, Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed asked Nirmal Singh to apologise on behalf of his party. “I condemn this act. It is not good. It has hurt the sentiments of our people. We have to tolerate each other”, Mufti said.
Nirmal Singh condemned the act and described it unfortunate. “Whatever happened here before the beginning of House, we don’t approve it”, Singh said. “However, I must say whatever happened in the MlA hostel, was also wrong. It should not have happened”, he said referring to Rashid’s beef party.
The NC members expressed dissatisfaction over Singh’s statement and demanded unequivocal apology. But when Singh refused to do it again, they staged walkout.
Following law Minister Basharat Bukhari’s intervention the NC members returned to the House on the condition that Singh would apologise. This compelled the deputy Chief Minister to say sorry to the House. “I feel sorry on behalf of my party over the act that took place in the House”, Singh said while putting the controversy to rest. Several BJP legislators including those who manhandled the legislator appeared to be disapproving the party leader.
However, the BJP turned out to be the winner when the Private Member’s Bill seeking amendment to Ranbir Panel Code (RPC) and Code of Criminal Procedure was not tabled in the House due to paucity of time.
The amendment was sought by five legislators through three separate bills of identical content to amend a law that enforces ban on the sale and possession of beef in Jammu and Kashmir. The law is in vogue in the Muslim majority State since the time of feudal rulers but it came to limelight when a division bench of High Court in Jammu on September 8 directed the police chief to enforce the ban in letter and spirit. This triggered massive resentment among Muslims of the State. Another division bench in Srinagar asked the State Government as to why the archaic law should not be repealed.
legislators MY Tarigami, Sheikh Rashid, Ali Muhammad Sagar, Mohammad Akbar lone and Mian Altaf Ahmad had moved the bill.
However, the bill could not be taken up within the stipulated time leading to its death. Omar Abdullah described the delay in tabling the bill as coalition Government’s pre-meditated attempt to fail the bill. The Opposition pleaded with the Speaker to extend timing of the day’s session but he remained non-committal until adjourning the House. “The Government has already planned this bill should not come up for discussion. That is why Chief Minister left the house”, Abdullah alleged.