The ghost of Parliament attack convict, Mohd Afzal Guru, continues to haunt squabbling alliance partners — National Conference and Congress — on the floor of the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly.
On Tuesday, the lower House once again witnessed 'unruly' scenes during the Question Hour after the speaker disallowed the private members resolution moved by Er Abdul Rasheed and four others seeking return of mortal remains of Afzal Guru. As the members belonging to the Opposition parties attempted to thrash Independent MlA Er Rasheed and demanded his suspension from the House, the situation took an ugly turn and the Speaker was forced to adjourn the House.
Breaking the 'eerie' silence in the House, two senior Congress Ministers sitting in the front row questioned the conduct of the Speaker of the House and then threatened to pull out of the alliance Government if the drama over Afzal Guru continued.
leading the charge on behalf of the Congress party PHE Minister Sham lal Sharma strongly objected to the manner in which Speaker was conducting the business in the House.
Referring to the protests staged by Er Abdul Rasheed senior Congress Minister said, "This is too much. We will pull out of the coalition Government".
In response, another National Conference Minister Mohd Akbar lone reacted angrily to his retort saying," Aap ko koi rok nahin sakta (Nobody can stop you from pulling out).
As other Cabinet colleagues tried to pacify the agitated members in the House, Sham lal went on to vent his ire over the manner in which the House proceedings were going on. Sitting in the front row he charged, "Every day this man (read Er Abdul Rasheed) is belittling Indian constitution and raising slogans in the House demanding mortal remains of Afzal Guru but no one is taking any cognizance".
As tempers ran high, Sham lal was joined by Housing and Culture Minister from Jammu Raman Bhalla. He too objected to the utterances of Er Abdul Rasheed in the House and the manner in which he was attacking the Congress led union Government.
Congress legislators GM Saroori and Mohd Sharief Niaz, loyalists belonging to the Ghulam Nabi Azad camp, also raised their voice in the House claiming that Er Rasheed has been sheltered by the National Conference in the House and each day he is abusing the constitution of India and the State, yet everyone in the House is tolerating him.
To counter the Congress legislators few NC members and two NC Ministers Sajjad Kitchloo and Nazir Gurezi exchanged heated arguments in the House and tried to defend the action of Rasheed.
The situation took an ugly turn when speaker Mubarak Gul provoked the Panthers party and BJP members while Rasheed was protesting.
Instead of listening to their demand the Speaker warned the agitated members not to touch the Independent MlA as they attempted to thrash him. "Don't touch him, don't get personal. This is not good. This is wrong. The whole State will burn and the onus will be on you. This is a sensitive matter. As agitated members stood their ground, Gul took them head on saying he (Abdul Rasheed) was not demanding Azadi, he was not demanding Pakistan, he was only asking his Government to return the mortal remains of Afzal Guru. There is no harm in it. He was not doing anything objectionable. Everyone in the House is demanding the same".
The BJP, Panthers party and JSM legislator objected to the regular protests by Er Abdul Rasheed when Speaker silenced them and adjourned the House.
Reacting to the threats issued by the Congress Ministers over pulling out of the coalition Government Parliamentary and law Affairs Minister Mir Saifullah tried to play down the issue outside the House. He claimed some time 'heated arguments' take place during proceedings and it only strengthens the alliance Government. He clarified there was no threat to the alliance Government. The Government would complete its full term, he added. Congress spokesman and MlC Ravinder Sharma told reporters outside the House, "We have apprised the party high command about the entire episode".