At a time when violence has escalated in Kashmir, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti underlined the essence of dialogue and adopting democratic means, and called the Opposition parties to unite for achieving the goal of reconciliation.
“Our soldiers are being martyred. Neither guns nor the Army can bring peace to troubled Kashmir,” ANI quoted Mehbooba saying it in the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly.
Speaking on the obituary references in the Assembly, Mufti said dialogue is the only way forward in Kashmir and regretted that separatist leaders refused to meet the All-Party Delegation led by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in 2016 despite her invitation to them.
She obliquely blamed the Opposition National Congress (NC) and the Congress for the upheaval in Kashmir. “These parties killed democracy in the past. Because democracy was killed, situation has turned violent,” she said.
The J&K CM said it was the 1987 election that actually created the ongoing situation. “Syed Salahuddin and Yasin Malik are there and I think I need not to take more names,” she said referring to rigged Assembly polls when Salahuddin had contested as a Muslim United Front candidate.
She said the Opposition members asked her to convince the PM to hold dialogue. “Were they able to convince the PM in the Congress eraIJ Whatever happened (on the talk front) was in Vajpayee era,” she said.
She hailed Modi for visiting Pakistan and compared it with 10-year tenure of Manmohan Singh who could not take up the visit. She regretted that Pathankot attack cast shadow on Modi’s initiative.
She said dialogue has been her party’s agenda. “Dialogue is the way forward,” she said and sought cooperation from the Opposition parties. “If we can unite, we can get it (dialogue) done. We should put our heads together to take it as a common cause,” she said.
The CM said the people have lost fear referring to incidents of stone-pelting at encounter sites. “There is no fear now. Fourteen-year-old goes and throws a stone near an encounter site,” she said.
The CM said there has been resistance to talks in Kashmir too. “When Inder Gujral said in Qazigund that he wants to talk, Farooq Abdullah drove to the Assembly to say that if Delhi entered into talks with separatists he will be the first to go against India,” Mehbooba said.
She said on her suggestion to hold talks with separatists in 1996, Farooq Abdullah reacted tersely and declared to drown the separatists in Jhelum instead.
later when Vajpyee announced a ceasefire in Ramzan, Farooq said in the Assembly that he has asked his DG to go and get the militants.
Earlier, NC veteran Mohammad Shafi Uri said the situation in Kashmir is taking a dangerous turn.
He said he was unaware what the Home Minister was talking about when he says Kashmir will get a permanent solution.
“Kashmir is on fire,” Shafi said, “If you add to it, it will devour all of us.” He suggested the Government to make the situation favourable for talks, respect the people and the month of fasting.
later, the Special Session of Assembly was hastily adjourned sine die without specific discussions on implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The Opposition NC and Congress raised anti-Government slogans and refused to accept passage of GST bill in its present form. The session was planned for four days but it was truncated without holding the meeting of business advisory committee that formulates schedule for the assembly business.
Trade bodies and separatists in Kashmir have opposed implementation of GST saying the uniform tax programme would infringe the special status and financial autonomy of the State.
The planned rollout of the GST on July 1 across the country would require concurrence from the State Government as the Central ordinances and laws are not directly applicable to J&K due to its special constitutional status, said sources.
The Special Session had been called to endorse the 101st amendment in the Constitution of India.
“It is embarrassing for the Mehbooba-led Government to convene a Special Session and call it off on the first day. The Government should have built consensus on GST before calling the special session,” said journalist Haroon Rashid on the unprecedented development.
Earlier, Opposition legislators created ruckus in the Assembly accusing the State Government of killing and blinding boys and girls with bullets and pellets.
The Assembly had begun with obituary reference on five former legislators and Governor GC Saxena but the Opposition members insisted on inclusion of people slain during the recent unrest in Kashmir in the reference.
Speaker Kavinder Gupta struggled in restoration of order in the Assembly as several members occupied the Well of the House and raised anti-Government slogans. An NC legislator Davider Rana accused the Speaker of being biased and working at the behest of New Delhi.
The Opposition legislators, including independent MlA Sheikh Rashid, blamed the Government for continuing a spree of killing innocent people across the State.
Source said the Government would constitute an all-party panel to discuss the GST implementation before reconvening the session for the purpose. This may delay the implementation of GST in the State.
A group of traders attempted to march towards the Assembly complex but police blocked their advance. They later staged a sit-in at lal Chowk that wore a deserted look due shutdown called by traders against the GST implementation. A senior trade leader Yasin Khan was taken into custody.
The traders said the GST would not be accepted in its present form as it would erode the special status of the state and end the fiscal autonomy.
Unable to manage the House amid continued din, Gupta later adjourned the House for indefinite period. “The House will meet when the all-party Committee comes up with its report on GST,” he said.