BJP MLAs Marshaled out
Dy CM, Food Minister, Pyare Lal accuse BJP of ruining of Jammu
SRINAGAR, Nov 7: The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was adjourned for the day on Thursday following a brawl between the BJP MLAs and marshals, as the opposition members protested against a resolution for the restoration of the erstwhile state’s special status for the second consecutive day.
While the opposition BJP said the resolution is “illegal” and demanded its withdrawal, the speaker said he does not have such powers as anything passed by the House can only be undone by the House itself.
As soon as the Assembly met in the morning, pandemonium broke out as the BJP members protested against the resolution that was passed on Wednesday.
While Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma (BJP) was speaking on the resolution, Awami Ittehad Party leader Sheikh Khursheed jumped into the well with a banner that read Articles 370 and 35A be restored.
This irked the BJP members, who also jumped into the well, snatched the banner from the Langate MLA and tore it into pieces.
There was a minor scuffle between the BJP MLAs and Khursheed. Finding the latter outnumbered, Peoples’ Conference MLA Sajad Lone came to the rescue of the legislator from his neighbouring constituency.
Amid the din, Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather adjourned the House for 15 minutes.
After the House resumed its proceedings, the BJP continued its protest, even as the speaker requested the opposition members to take their seats.
As the protest continued, the speaker said, “I am very closely watching the activities of some members. Do not force me to do what I do not want to do.”
Sharma, however, said “I want the National Conference’s drama of special status to end”, which infuriated the ruling party members.
The BJP MLAs raised slogans, such as “Balidan huye jahan Mookerjee, woh Kashmir hamara hai”, while the NC members shouted “Jis Kashmir ko khoon se seencha, woh Kashmir hamara hai”.
The BJP was referring to Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh that later became the Bharatiya Janata Party.
As the uproar continued, the speaker issued directions that nothing should be recorded or reported.
He then directed marshalling out of the BJP members, who stormed the well, leading to a scuffle between them and the marshals.
“They deserve it, throw them out,” the speaker said.
While they were being evicted, the BJP MLAs came to blows with the marshals. Three BJP MLAs were marshalled out of the House amid thumping of tables by the treasury bench members.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary accused BJP of “double standards” and ruining J&K over the past ten years. “You sold Jammu land, you sold everything in Jammu, you are responsible for the mess in Jammu,” Choudhary shouted.
Minister Satish Sharma stood up and said the BJP “is playing divide and rule”. He said “Bharat Mata” belongs to all.
“The Constitution of India was on the table on which they (BJP MLAs) were standing yesterday. They were standing on it with their shoes on. They should be punished for it,” the minister said, adding that “Jammu can’t be separated from Kashmir. We have to take together Kashmir, Jammu and even Ladakh.”
MLA Payare Lal also launched a scathing attack on the opposition saying, “By raising religious slogans, you can’t win loyalty here. Come and let’s tour Jammu together, I will tell you how happy people of Jammu are over passing of the resolution on special status. Your dream of having separate Jammu will never realise.”
However, the pandemonium continued, resulting in the speaker adjourning the proceedings till Friday,? the last scheduled day of the session.
However, the BJP said Article 370 is history and it cannot be restored.
BJP MLA R S Pathania said it is “unfortunate” that the ruling NC has “compromised the integrity” of the Assembly and made a “joke” of parliamentary democracy by bringing a resolution that questions a decision taken by Parliament.
The Speaker said the BJP’s demand is unreasonable as only the House has the power to reverse any business passed by it.
“They are asking the speaker to take the resolution back. The speaker does not have the power. Anything passed by the House can only be undone by the House itself,” he said.
“I can’t annul Resolution passed by House”: Speaker
Says BJP can bring No-Confidence if it wants me out
SRINAGAR, Nov 7: Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather on Thursday rejected the BJP demand for either rolling back the special status resolution passed by the House or stepping down, and said if the party does not have faith in him it should bring a no-confidence motion.
He also rebuked the party for its “cheap sloganeering” and said he cannot tolerate members entering into the Well of the House and stomping over the national emblem placed on Assembly Secretary’s chair.
“They (BJP) are asking the Speaker to take back the resolution. The Speaker does not have the powers. Anything passed by the House can only be undone by the House itself. Speakers cannot do it. The Speaker has limited powers in these issues… he has to preside, count and give decisions based on the facts before him,” Rather told PTI.
The Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution asking the Centre to work out a Constitutional mechanism for restoring special status to Jammu and Kashmir that was revoked on August 5, 2019. The resolution was hailed by Valley-based political parties while it prompted protests by the main opposition BJP which demanded its rollback.
The passage of the resolution led to an uproar in the House as the BJP members protested vociferously. They have not allowed the House to function for two consecutive days now, demanding that the Speaker either take back the resolution or step down. Rather expressed amusement over the BJP binary of either asking him to step down or take back the resolution. “How can a speaker do it? My advice to them is to go through the assembly rules and then talk in the House,” he said.
The Speaker said if BJP members did not have faith in him as the presiding officer of the House, they should follow the proper procedure of removing him. “I have no worries but If they do not have faith in the Chair, shouting slogans is still not the way. There is a procedure of no-confidence motion.
“They should bring no confidence motion. If the House passes it, I will go back on my own whether any member tells me or not. However, they will not do that also but keep raising slogans only. “This kind of cheap sloganeering is not done. They belong to the ruling party at the Centre. They should keep that in mind and they should be better behaved compared to others. Their behaviour is not right,” he said.
On the marshalling out of some BJP MLAs form the House on Thursday, the Speaker said he has given clear instructions to the marshals to stop any member from entering the Well as some BJP MLAs stomped over the national emblem placed on Assembly Secretary’s chair during their protests against the resolution on Wednesday.
“Yesterday, some members came into the Well of the House and stood on the Chair of the secretary, legislative assembly. There is the national emblem on his chair and they stepped on the national emblem with their shoes on. “As a speaker, How can I tolerate that? When I saw it yesterday, I felt extremely sad. After all, we are Indians first. We should respect our flag and the emblem,” he added.
Rather said an MLA has to lead by example for people outside the House. “If he does such things, what will the Speaker do? So, I had given directions today that if anyone comes into the Well, he should be stopped. What is his job there? Anyone wants to speak, they should do it from their chair. How can they come in the Well and then stand on the chairs?
“There is a new woman MLA (Shagun Parihar of the BJP), she has also learned the same. She is doing the same things that the senior members are doing. She thinks this is what is to be done and she also stood on the chairs today. It has a bad effect on others,” he said. On the resolution by a group of MLAs from PDP, Peoples Conference and Awami Ittehad Party, the Speaker said he has not received it yet.
“It has not reached me. So I do not know. However, there is a proper procedure for submitting resolutions. It has to be submitted to the assembly secretariat and the secretary will examine and put it forward for orders to the Speaker. If it is admitted, the Speaker has to inform the government so that they can come prepared. You cannot bring a paper, read it in the House and call it a resolution,” he said.
Rather said there are 51 first-time MLAs in the current assembly and he has planned a training course for them before the budget session. “I wanted to have a training session for them on how to conduct themselves in the House but due to paucity of time between the elections and the session, we could not do it. We will have it now before the budget session in Jammu. In any case, the educated MLAs should go through the rules,” he said.
