Autumn Session opens amid political sparring
Srinagar, Oct 23: The autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly commenced on Thursday amid a brief uproar in the House as the National Conference (NC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators engaged in a war of words during the obituary reference to former J&K Governor, Satya Pal Malik.
The House witnessed a brief uproar during the obituary reference session.
The situation came under control after the intervention of Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather.
As the session commenced, the Speaker gave obituary references and honoured several departed political leaders.
The Speaker paid homage to former Governor of J&K, Satya Pal Malik; former minister, Gulchain Singh Charak; former MLA, Dina Nath Bhagat; former MLC, Ghulam Nabi Shaheen; former MLC, Ramesh Arora, and former MLC, Sardar Mohammad Akhlaq Khan.
Addressing the House as the session began, Speaker Rather urged legislators to make the most of the limited time available.
“We have limited time available. Use it judiciously and make the session productive and positive,” the Speaker announced in the House.
With this, NC MLA Bashir Ahmad Shah (Veeri) started his address in the obituary reference session and paid homage to the former political leaders.
However, he was obstructed by the BJP MLAs after he termed the tenure of Satya Pal Malik as “controversial.”
BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma disrupted him and said that the members, while paying tributes to the deceased political leaders, should avoid using controversial remarks.
On this, the Speaker asked the NC MLA to use proper language in the House.
Veeri’s speech further created noisy scenes in the House as BJP MLAs raised their voices against the remarks of an NC MLA who said that the late Ramesh Arora was associated with a communal party.
As BJP MLAs raised their voice, they were countered by the NC MLAs, creating a brief uproar in the House.
In his obituary reference, Congress MLA Nizamuddin Bhat said that while the members speak about the positive things of the former leaders, there must be an acknowledgement of facts as well.
“One should speak about the kind of character the leaders have shown, but it is equally important to maintain respect and decorum while doing so,” he said, and paid homage to the former political leaders.
Another Congress MLA, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, termed Satya Pal Malik a good leader and an “outspoken” person who remained “popular” in public.
“He might have benefited from the abrogation of Article 370, but he suffered as well. We saw how he had to struggle in his last days to put the truth before the people,” Mir said.
MLA Kulgam Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami paid tributes to the late political leaders.
He also referred to past events that led to the bifurcation of J&K and mentioned several incidents which he wanted to be discussed in the Assembly.
“There must be some scope of constructive criticism while paying tributes to late political leaders,” Tarigami said.
However, BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma stood up from his seat and objected to Tarigami’s remarks.
“You are setting a wrong precedent in the House. Instead of making an obituary reference, you are giving us a history lesson. There is no such scope while we are paying tributes. You speak well, but this is not the appropriate forum. Do not discuss history while paying tributes,” Sharma told Tarigami.
The Speaker intervened as there was a mild uproar and allowed Tarigami to continue his speech.
Later, the Speaker and the members of the House also held a two-minute silence in remembrance of the department leaders.
