SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was disrupted on Monday after BJP legislators entered the Well of the House, tore business papers and held mock proceedings while protesting a resolution seeking the urgent restoration of statehood.
The disruption followed the BJP’s motion seeking the removal of Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather over his decision to allow Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s resolution, moved on Friday, to be taken up in the House. The BJP alleged that the resolution had been admitted in violation of rules.
The BJP opposed references to autonomy and special status in the resolution, arguing that these amounted to an insult to the Constitution. The party said it would not allow the resolution to be discussed or passed in the House.
Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma said legislators had been elected to represent the people and defended the BJP’s position on the resolution.
“J&K is a sensitive state and we have enemies around. They are hatching conspiracies. We don’t want to do opposition for the sake of opposition. We want that statehood be restored. It is our agenda. But the kind of resolution they have brought, it is in violation of the Constitution and is unacceptable,” he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Chaudhary questioned the delay in restoring statehood, referring to the Centre’s stated commitment on the issue.
“Are we going to give up statehood? What is wrong with the resolution for statehood? The home minister has promised on the floor of the Parliament that statehood will be restored. They promised before the highest court of the country. What happened to those promises? Two years have passed since,” he said.
Chaudhary also asked Rather to put the BJP’s motion seeking his removal to a vote, questioning why it should be kept pending for 14 days.
The Speaker had cited a rule under which a motion seeking the removal of the Speaker can be taken up only after 14 days from its submission.
BJP legislators subsequently entered the Well and raised slogans opposing the resolution and its references to autonomy and special status. Some tore copies of the House’s business papers during the protest.
BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma then conducted mock proceedings from the Well, while other BJP legislators sat on the floor of the House.
Minister Sakina Ittoo criticised the BJP members’ conduct, saying they were “only doing drama for galleries”.
