Opposition BJP and NPP protest Omar’s remarks

BJP MLA Ashok Khajuria said the Chief Minister should be tried for his anti-national speech in the Assembly. “He should be in jail for questioning the integrity of the country,” he added.

Khajuria said Omar was speaking the language of his grandfather and National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah for which the latter served 15 years in jail. “What happened after that …. Sheikh Abdullah slipped from Prime Minister to Chief Minister’s chair. It is all about power,” he alleged.

The BJP legislature party,which has decided to boycott the remaining part of the ongoing session,will continue its dharna outside the Assembly tomorrow also,Khajuria said.

The NPP MLAs briefly appeared in the House today and submitted a petition to Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone demanding some parts of the speech of Omar’s which were in contravention to the section three of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution be expunged.

“The Chief Minister categorically stated in the Assembly that Jammu and Kashmir has acceded to the Union of India and not merged with it. This statement is violative of of section three of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir,” the NPP MLAs led by Harsh Dev Singh said in the petition.

He said the remarks being “derogatory an contemptuous” of the Constitution should be expunged.

NPP has decided to boycott the ongoing Assembly session,he added.

High drama was witnessed in the Assembly yesterday when opposition BJP and NPP MLAs stormed into the well of the House to protest Omar’s speech,forcing the Speaker to order marshals to take them out.

In the melee,four MLAs — three from BJP and one from NPP — and a security personnel suffered minor injuries.

The Chief Minister,while referring to points raised by opposition members during the two-day debate,on Wednesday said Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India cannot be compared to Hyderabad and Junagarh as the later had merged with the Union,which was not the case with the trouble-torn state.

“We have acceded to the Union under a special provision in the Constitution,while Hyderabad and Junagarh merged with India after acceding to it,” he had said.

Meanwhile,several attempts were made by the Assembly secretariat,government and some MLAs to persuade the BJP and NPP members to end their boycott.

CPI(M) MLA M Y Tarigami urged the Speaker to renew the attempts to bring back the opposition members.

“Since yesterday,I am in touch with the members directly as well as through some officials in this regard.

However,I do not agree with your assertion that they can do whatever they like in the House,” Lone told Tarigami.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar,Minister for Medical Education R S Chib,National Conference MLA Nazir Gurezi and Tarigami met the protesting BJP members in an attempt to persuade them for ending their boycott.

This is for the second consecutive day that Assembly proceedings have been conducted without the presence of any Opposition member in the House.

Opposition People’s Demcoratic Party (PDP) has stayed away from the proceedings from September 30,when the Assembly met for the summer session,as a protest against the civilian killings in Kashmir over the past four months.

They have also demanded initiation of action against the security force personnel responsible for these killings.