Violence came to the fore in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly today amidst a stormy debate on the motion for retrieving the special status of the Union Territory. Bitter words were exchanged, and chances of violence marked the session, which virtually boiled over over the issue of Article 370. The protest emerged after Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh, an MLA and brother to an engineer Rashid, displayed a slogan calling for the revival of Article 370, which was repealed in August 2019 and offered exclusive status to the region of Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly MLAs clash over resolution
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As soon as Sheikh held up the banner, Sunil Sharma, the Leader of the Opposition and a BJP MLA, protested that this was provocative and unconstitutional. Sharma claimed that talking about Article 370 raised the prospect of destabilizing the region and claimed that the House should concentrate on present economic development challenges. However, Sheikh and several other MLAs supported the restoration of Article 370, claiming that the withdrawal was done to safeguard the rights and identity of the people in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
I learned that several legislators had entered into a confrontation situation, which led to fisticuff, and Jammu and Kashmir Assembly security had to intervene in the situation. For several minutes, after what appeared to be petty squabbling among members, Speaker Abdul Rasheed tried to call for an order, telling everyone to return to their seats, to no avail. It also brings into focus Article 370, which talks about protests as and when the people get to know of its repeal. Some political leaders and part of the population still demand it to be restored, while the BJP main line continues to claim that the revocation will never be changed.
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