SRINAGAR, Nov. 8: The assembly was adjourned today after a fight broke out between marshals and MLAs from the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) after the speaker ordered the expulsion of opposition members who had occupied the Well of the House while protesting yesterday’s resolution on J&K’s special status.
Following Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather’s orders, at least six BJP MLAs were mobilized; however, opposition members’ resistance resulted in a battle.
There was a commotion when Leader of the Opposition Sunil Sharma declared the resolution passed by the Assembly on November 7 to be “unconstitutional and illegal” as the session got underway today.
Sharma called for the withdrawal of the resolution. “This resolution violates the constitution. Pointing to the treasury benches, he declared, “You have deceived the people of Kashmir.” Additionally, he called NC lawmakers “killers of the people of Kashmir.”
Members of the ruling party were enraged by Sharma’s remarks and united in their opposition to him. The chaos was exacerbated when Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh, the only member of the Awami Ittehad Party, entered the House with a banner that read “Restoration of Article 370 and 35-A” and “Release of political prisoners.”
This infuriated BJP members, some of whom dove into the Well in an attempt to take the banner, resulting in a brawl. Later, the banner was ripped to pieces by the BJP leaders. Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather responded by calling a 15-minute adjournment of the House.
But Sajjad Lone, the chairman of the Peoples Conference, intervened to save MLA Langate Khurshid Ahmad from the BJP lawmakers. During the altercation, Lone and Mohan Lal of the BJP sustained some bruises.
“He is my opponent, but I intervened when I witnessed a group of BJP lawmakers assaulting him. Lone later told reporters, “Waheed Para joined me in the rescue, but no NC leader had the courage to act.”
Following the break, BJP members returned to the protest, causing further chaos as they continued their fervent verbal and sloganeering attacks against the ruling party. Sharma further infuriated Treasury members by yelling, “The National Conference should end the drama of special status.”
The Speaker urged the opposition to respect the proceedings and stay seated on several occasions. “No one else should be standing when the Speaker is. The law and regulations do not apply to you. Please sit down. I am keeping a careful eye on some members’ activities. Do not make me say something I do not want to say. He cautioned, “This is not a fish market.”
The Speaker was forced to order the marshalling of those who entered the Well after BJP members persisted in their protest in spite of multiple warnings. The ruling party lawmakers applauded the march of at least six BJP lawmakers, including MLA Akhnoor Mohan Lal, MLA Udhampur East RS Pathania, MLA Bahu Vikram Randhawa, MLA Ramnagar Sunil Bhardwaj, MLA Billawar Satish Sharma, and MLA Jammu West Arvind Gupta.
But the demonstrations persisted, leading to more verbal
