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This is an archive article published on October 6, 2015

I am a proud RSS man: J&K Speaker after beef ban protest inside Assembly

The National Conference members raised slogans against the beef ban and what they termed as "interference in religious matters".

J&K beef ban, J&K assembly, J&K news MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid holds a banner as protest against against the Beef ban by J&K High Court on the first day of autumn session of the state assembly in Srinagar on Saturday. (Source: PTI)

While adjourning the House amid slogans against him and the RSS, Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta said on Monday that he is a “proud RSS man”. The Assembly was adjourned without any business after a ruckus over the beef ban controversy and rehabilitation of flood victims.

Gupta made the remark when MLAs from the National Conference and Congress shouted slogans: “RSS speaker, hai hai (Down with RSS speaker)”.

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On Monday, the House ran for less than half-an-hour in three sittings. As the assembly started in the morning, members from the National Conference and Congress, who were supported by the independent legislators, stood up and jumped into the Well, raising slogans against the government. Within a few minutes, the Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes.

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When the House convened again, Speaker Gupta informed the legislators that he had rejected the resolution and adjournment motion brought by Communist leader M Y Tarigami and independent legislator Hakeem Yasin, seeking a debate on the beef ban controversy. The Opposition members once again jumped into the Well and started protesting. Gupta adjourned the House again for an hour.

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When the House convened for the third time, NC legislators Altaf Wani and Ishfaq Jabbar tried to storm into the Well. What followed was a scuffle between the MLAs and the marshals in the Assembly. A marshal was also injured in the scuffle.

As the two legislators wrestled with the marshals, their party colleagues raised slogans against the Speaker, calling him an “RSS man”. Amid slogans, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day. The legislators of BJP and PDP silently watched the events.

Former CM Omar Abdullah, who was silent during the drama in the Assembly, later accused the Speaker of being biased. “Legislators are empowered to discuss beef ban issue. Where will we discuss it if not here?” he told reporters outside the Assembly.

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He added that the Opposition had brought the adjournment motion because they wanted to question the government about why it approached the SC in the beef ban issue instead of discussing the issue in the Assembly.

Bashaarat Masood is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express. He has been covering Jammu and Kashmir, especially the conflict-ridden Kashmir valley, for two decades. Bashaarat joined The Indian Express after completing his Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University in Kashmir. He has been writing on politics, conflict and development. Bashaarat was awarded with the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2012 for his stories on the Pathribal fake encounter. ... Read More

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