Peoples Conference president and MLA Handwara, Sajad Gani Lone, on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Legislative Assembly over the disallowing of his amendments regarding Article 370, police verification, and the shifting back of detainees lodged in jails outside J&K.
After the question hour ended, Lone stood up and questioned Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather over the disallowing of his amendments regarding Article 370, a probe into the rigging of the 1987 election, and PSA detentions.
The Speaker said that they had been disallowed under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the House.
Lone had submitted seven amendments to the LG’s address; however, only two were allowed. In his amendments, Lone had submitted that there was no mention of Article 370, doing away with the existing police verification system, and a probe into the rigging of the 1987 polls in the LG’s address. Lone said that there was no mention of Article 370 in the resolution passed in the J&K Assembly in the last session.
“We are victims of police verification, and the rules are very stringent. I am myself a victim. Nobody should be punished for what their kins have done. We cannot keep quiet on these issues,” he said.
Congress MLA Nizamuddin Bhat supported Lone’s argument that police verification should be discussed and debated in the House. “You should have kept the repeal of PSA in the LG’s address if you had an intention,” Lone said. To this, the Speaker said that these matters pertain to the Ministry of Home Affairs. “It cannot be done unless the state is restored,” he said.
Angered by the Speaker’s refusal to allow the amendments to the LG’s address, Lone staged a walkout from the House—(KNO)
