NAVVNEET DUBEY
Jammu: The second leg of the budget session in Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly on Friday began on a sour note as both opposition BJP and ruling National Conference(NC) and Congress created a ruckus forcing the speaker to adjourn the house for half an hour.
As soon as the house reconvened after break, members of BJP stood on their seats carrying placards seeking National Law university for Jammu as well. While, NC Congress members stood on their seats with few of them wearing black armbands in protest against the killing of Khamenei. However speaker Abdul Rahim Rather’s attempt to restore order in the house went in vain as both sides refused to pay any heed.
As the House began, BJP MLAs raised slogans and displayed placards, seeking clarity on the proposed location of the university and alleging that Jammu has been deprived of premier educational institutions.
Also National Conference MLA and chief party spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq, donned in a black dress and headgear, displayed a picture of Khamenei. CPI(M) MLA M Y Tarigami demanded that the assembly condemn the Israel-US aggression on Iran. The BJP MLAs were also on their feet, demanding a National Law University (NLU) in Jammu.
Speaker urged the protesting members let the house function. “I will allow members to raise any issue after the question hour. Let the question house pass”, he urged MLAs.
As the MLAs sat down and Minister Sakeena Itoo started replying to the first question, BJP legislator Surjit Singh Slathia rose and demanded assurance from the government on the NLU.
Trouble erupted again as National Conference, PDP, Congress, CPI(M) and Independent MLAs trooped to the Well of the House but were stopped by the Marshalls, leading to intensified sloganeering against Israel. The BJP MLAs also shouted “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”, and called for the alleged discrimination against Jammu to end, triggering noisy scenes.
The house also saw a minor scuffle between a few BJP and Congress members after MLA Irfan Hafiz Lone made slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP member Shagun Parihar countered Lone which led to heated arguments with other MLA also jumped on. BJP member Yudvir Sethi also called Congress Papu party. Timely intervention by Marshalls prevented the situation from getting worse, prompting the speaker to adjourn the house for half an hour.
Normalcy was restored when the house resumed and after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah made a statement regarding the West Asia crisis. Earlier few NC MLAs demanded the statement from the leader of the House but BJP leader Sham Lal Sharma maintained that the House doesn’t have the domain to speak on the issue. Another BJP MLA, Ranbir Singh Pathania quoted some business rules and said that the House can’t speak on the issue or pass any resolution which doesn’t have any direct relation to Jammu and Kashmir.
