The inaugural session of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly began on a stormy note on Monday (November 4) with the ruling National Conference (NC) leader and assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather turning down an opposition resolution against the reading down of Article 370 citing unspecified rules.
The House was convened for the first time after Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its special status by the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)-led Union government in 2019 and the subsequent assembly election, whose result was declared last month, overwhelmingly favoured those political parties who opposed the BJP’s move.
The Leader of the House and J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah termed the resolution, which was sponsored by three members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the legislative assembly, as an attention-grabbing, “first-day, first-show” stint “for the cameras” while Rather said that it was a “display of incompetence” by the three leaders whom he advised to follow the rules of the legislature.
Moments after Rather was elected as the Speaker and the proceedings of the House started on Monday, a two-page letter was handed by Waheed Parra, Youth PDP leader and legislator from Pulwama, to a security guard in the assembly hall, signalling him to forward it to the Speaker.
The letter, which was signed by three PDP legislators, including Mir Fayaz from Kupwara and his counterpart from Tral, Rafiq Ahmad Naik, urged Rather to take up the attached Article-370 resolution for discussion.
“Although the agenda for the House has been finalised, we believe that your authority as Speaker allows the inclusion of this resolution as it reflects the sentiment of the people at large. We trust you will give this matter due consideration in view of its significance to public sentiment,” the letter stated.
The resolution said that the House “opposes” the reading down of J&K’s “special status” and its “constitutional disempowerment .. through the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019” while calling for “its complete rescinding”.
“House further resolves to strive for restoration of special status and all constitutional guarantees granted to Jammu & Kashmir in their original, pristine form,” it added.
Reading out the resolution, Parra recalled the convention of J&K’s Constituency Assembly in 1951 when the National Conference, under its founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, had won all the 75 seats. In his speech, Sheikh had then urged the assembly to give a “reasoned conclusion regarding accession” of Jammu and Kashmir with the Union of India.
According to political experts, the J&K assembly is also facing a similar political conundrum after its constitutional relationship with the Union of India was fundamentally altered by the Union government in 2019 without the consent of the legislative assembly, a decision which was deemed as constitutionally valid by the apex court.
“This assembly too is in a transition to negotiate our relation,” Parra said, “I have a small request that a resolution is passed in the House. I, on behalf of my party, bring a resolution to oppose the J&K Reorganisation Act and for the restoration of Article 370 in its pristine form.”
Both the NC as well as the PDP and other regional parties in Kashmir have opposed the central government’s move. However, after coming to office, Abdullah has toned down his rhetoric while asserting that his government was seeking “cooperation” of the BJP-led Union government in resolving the problems in J&K.
While Parra was reading out the resolution, Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone stood up and signalled other members in the assembly to extend their support to the youth PDP leader.
Later, Sheikh Khursheed Ahmad, MLA Langate and brother of the incarcerated Awami Ittehad Party leader Engineer Rashid, also supported the move, even as the ruling party members shouted down Parra which triggered a commotion between the treasury and the opposition benches.
Shouting slogans, some BJP legislators demanded that Parra’s remarks be expunged from the records of the house.
In his address, Abdullah said that the proceedings of the House were to start after the election of Speaker and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s address followed by obituary reference to a sitting legislative member and ex-members who passed away since the assembly last convened in 2018.
Senior BJP leader Devendra Singh Rana who was elected from Nagrota assembly constituency in the recently concluded assembly election passed away last week.
“Some members will have no option but to play politics,” Abdullah said, without taking names, “This assembly reflects the sentiments of people of J&K. The truth is that the people have not approved the decision of August 5, 2019. Were it to be the case, the results would have been different. Those who raised their voice against this decision are in the majority (today)”.
Criticising the opposition members, Abdullah said that the PDP should have discussed the resolution with his party before making a move in the assembly.
“One honourable member (of the House) can’t decide how this issue is to be reflected, how it will be discussed and how it will be put on record,” he said, adding that the legislative members could bring individual resolutions during private members business in the main session of the assembly. (THE WIRE)
