J&K Assembly adjourned again following ruckus over Waqf Act

 

 

THE Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was adjourned by for the second time on Tuesday following a ruckus in the House by National Conference (NC), Congress, PDP and other members over the disallowance of adjournment of business to discuss the Waqf Amendment Act. This is the second consecutive day on which treasury benches did not allow the House to function. As the House assembled for the day, NC members led by Salman Sagar, Tanvir Sadiq and Peoples Conference member Sajad Gani Lone raised the issue of adjourning the Budget Session to discuss the Bill in the House. As Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather asked them to allow the Question Hour to begin, members of NC, Congress, PDP, and Independents trooped into the well of the House, raising slogans and demanding the withdrawal of the “black law.” Amid the noisy scenes, PDP member Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra stormed into the well of the House, demanding the immediate passage of the resolution moved by his party.

 

As Parra, carrying a copy of the resolution in his hand, pressed for its passage, NC leader Abdul Majid Larmi accused him of being an “RSS agent,” sparking a heated verbal exchange between NC members and other opposition legislators, including Sheikh Kursheed. When Parra attempted to enter the well of the House, the Speaker directed Marshals to evict him. “I was demanding passage of the resolution in the House over the Bill. It is unfortunate on the part of the Speaker to remove me from the House. This is a Muslim majority region.

 

We have over 60 Muslim legislators in the House, but we cannot discuss and pass the resolution,” he told reporters outside the House. Nine members of the NC, Congress, and Independent MLAs had submitted notices to the Speaker to adjourn business for holding a discussion on the issue on Monday. The House was adjourned for the day after two adjournments due to the pandemonium. Amid noisy scenes, NC members Nazir Gurezi, Salman Sagar, and Tanvir Sadiq urged the Speaker to allow the discussion, considering the sentiments of the members as it pertained to a religious matter.