KL Report
Jammu
Amidst total chaos and uproar the legislative assembly was adjourned till tomorrow after passing the grants of finance and forest departments in just three minutes.
There was an uproar in the assembly for the full day Tuesday as the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), independent lawmaker Er Rashed and CPI(M) state secretary Yousuf Tarigami demanded that the mortal remains of Afzal Guru be brought back to the state. They demanded that the government should bring a resolution from itself in this regard.
Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged and buried in Delhi’s Tihar Jail on February 9.
The demand came up a day after Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday ruled out handing over Afzal Guru’s body to his family.
J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his arch rival, PDP patron and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had also written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh listing this demand.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) rose to counter the PDP and the resulting ruckus compelled Speaker Mubarak Gul to adjourn the house thrice before adjourning it for the full day.
When the house assembled for the third time, members stood on tables after Law Minister Mir Saif Ullah addressed Guru as “Afzal Guru sahib”. This enraged the BJP and JKNPP and their members started shouting slogans. The speaker then adjourned the house till 3 pm.
For Kashmir-based parties, the return of Afzal Guru’s body to his family has become an issue, while Jammu-based parties are strongly opposing the demand.
MLA Langate Er Rashid on the division of Jammu and Kashmir based MLA’s went to the extent saying, “If the members of Jammu do not feel themselves comfortable with those of Kashmir they can have their separate state comprising of two and a half districts”. He further said, “we will not beg for the body of Afzal, Kashmiri people want final resolution of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir”.
The trouble started Tuesday morning when PDP members Syed Basharat Bukhari, Syed Bashir and Javed Mustafa Mir stood up and started protesting against the home minister’s statement about the Afazl’s body. Their colleagues supported them fully and Rasheed and Tarigami also raised the same issue.
At one point of time BJP and NPP members alleged that the demand for the return of the body of Afzal was “antinational” and they raised the slogans like “Vanday Mataram” and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”.
The speaker had no other option to adjourn the house thrice in a row and finally when the house resumed at 3 pm, the opposition members again started to press for their demand. In the meantime amidst uproar, sloganeering, ruckus and noise, the house passed the grants of the departments of finance and forest. As soon as the grants were passed the speaker adjourned the house till Wednesday.
