The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, which is witnessing proceedings after five years had to be adjourned again on Thursday morning just minutes after resuming. The adjournment came after a disruption due to a fight between the BJP legislators and the MLAs of the NC, the PDP, JKAIP, and the CPI-ML.
The fight started when Rashid Engineer's brother and Langate MLA Sheikh Khurshid Ahmad displayed a poster demanding the restoration of Article 370. The BJP MLAs immediately protested and advanced on him to snatch the poster. As the MLAs came to blows, the marshalls stationed to maintain order in the House, appeared helpless. Following the fight, the BJP MLAs were marshalled out of the assembly.
The assembly was immediately adjourned for 15 minutes.
Mehbooba Mufti's PDP on Thursday moved a fresh resolution in the J&K Assembly seeking the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A.
As soon as the Assembly resumed proceedings, the ruckus started again, leading the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings for the day. During the fight, BJP MLAs RS Pathania and Mohan Lal were allegedly injured.
After the adjournment, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina said: "The Congress and the NC are trying to pursue Pakistan's agenda. The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has nothing to do with Article 370."
Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Passes Resolution On Article 370
Earlier on Wednesday, the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed a resolution asking the Centre to work out a constitutional mechanism to restore the special status of the erstwhile state. The move was hailed by the valley-based political parties while it prompted protests by the main opposition party, BJP, which was against the rollback of the abrogation of Article 370.
The massive ruckus led Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather to adjourn the House for the day.
The resolution, which also expressed "concern" over the "unilateral removal" of the special status, was passed without any debate as the Speaker put it to voice vote amid noisy protests. The members of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), People's Conference, Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] supported the resolution during the voice vote.
With the passage of the resolution, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's Jammu and Kashmir National Conference said it has fulfilled one of its promises made in the manifesto while Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the "Assembly has done its job". PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, however, said it was a "half-hearted" effort and the resolution could have been written "in a better way".