The Hindu : States / Other States : Opposition stages walkout from J&K Assembly

The Hindu : States / Other States : Opposition stages walkout from J&K Assembly

The entire Opposition on Tuesday walked out of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly after staging noisy protests with some PDP members tearing question papers and clashing with the watch and ward staff.

The action by the Opposition, which accused the State government of carrying out mass arrests and human rights violations, came after Speaker refused to accept the notice of adjournment motion given by PDP leader Mehmooba Mufti on the summer unrest in the Valley and the situation in the State.

As the Assembly proceedings began, Opposition parties including PDP, BJP, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) and Jammu State Morcha (JSM) stood up and raised slogans against the government calling it a ‘total failure’ on all fronts, including security and development.

The Opposition members, who stormed the well of the House, also tried to disrupt the Question Hour demanding a reply from the government.

PDP led by Ms. Mehbooba started the protest in the Assembly during the Question Hour. The party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was also present in the House.

PDP MLAs tore papers relating to questions and clashed with the watch and ward staff, who tried to take them out of the House. In the melee, PDP MLA Zulfikar Hussain was reported to have received a minor injury.

Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone, however, intervened and asked the watch and ward staff not to evict another PDP MLA Javed Mir from the House.

Ms. Mehbooba had earlier given a notice to the Speaker to adjourn the House over the issue of summer killings in Kashmir and alleged mass arrests.

She had also demanded release of political prisoners in the state but the Speaker ignored the notice and allowed the Question Hour to commence. Following this, the Opposition staged a walkout from the House.

“We staged a walkout from the House in protest against the failure of the state government on all fronts, including security and development. The writ of the government does not run. They are ruling the state by force with police and security forces,” Leader of the BJP Legislative party Chaman Lal Gupta told reporters.

He also alleged that the government had ill-treated the BJP leaders at Jammu Airport during ‘Ekta Yatra’ and did not allow them to hoist the tricolour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar.

Keywords: Jammu and kashmir Assembly proceedings