A ruckus ensued in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in Srinagar on November 7 after Engineer Rashid’s brother and MLA Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh displayed a banner on Article 370, the provision granting special status to the erstwhile state abolished in August 2019.
Leader of Opposition and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Sunil Sharma objected to the act by Sheikh.
“We demand restoration of Article 370 and 35A. Release of political prisoners,” the banner displayed by the Awami Ittehad Party MLA from Langate read. The House was adjourned briefly after the objection by BJP members led to bedlam. Once the House reconvened, the BJP MLAs continued to protest. The house was then adjourned for the day.
Wednesday’s bedlam took place a day after ruckus erupted in the as Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary tabled a resolution urging the restoration of the erstwhile state’s special status.
“That this legislative assembly reaffirms the importance of the special status and constitutional guarantees, which safeguarded the identity, culture, and rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and expresses concern over their unilateral removal,” the resolution moved by Choudhary and later passed by the House said.
The move reignited tensions surrounding Article 370, which had been scrapped in August 2019 and previously granted theersthile state a special constitutional autonomy.
The newly-elected Jammu and Kashmir Assembly witnessed chaotic scenes on the first day of its first session after opposition member Waheed Parra of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) moved a resolution against the scrapping of Article 370.
The BJP’s strong reaction reflects the party’s firm stance on Article 370. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked J&K’s special status in August 2019, citing national integration and uniformity as reasons for the reorganization.
TheJammu and KashmirAssembly convened for its first session in six years on Monday, November 4, and will conclude on November 8.
Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. The move led to the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
