Srinagar: MLA Handwara Sajad Gani Lone has written a letter to the Speaker of the J&K Assembly, protesting the rejection of five out of seven amendments he submitted to the Lieutenant Governor’s address.
The disallowed amendments include the restoration of Article 370 and 35A, repeal of the Public Safety Act, a probe into the 1987 election rigging, abolition of Kashmir-specific police verification, and discussion on recent civilian deaths, People’s Conference President said in the letter.
Lone criticised the move as an attempt to silence the aspirations of the people of J&K, questioning why political parties that campaigned on restoring Article 370 now refuse to even discuss it.
He warned that stifling democratic debate could have serious consequences and “demands either a reconsideration of the decision or a clear explanation for rejecting the amendments.”
Lone had submitted seven amendments to the LG’s address; however, only two were allowed. In his amendments, Lone had submitted that there was no mention of Article 370, doing away with the existing police verification system, and a probe into the rigging of the 1987 polls in the LG’s address. Lone said that there was no mention of Article 370 in the resolution passed in the J&K Assembly in the last session.
“We are victims of police verification, and the rules are very stringent. I am myself a victim. Nobody should be punished for what their kins have done. We cannot keep quiet on these issues,” he said.
Congress MLA Nizamuddin Bhat supported Lone’s argument that police verification should be discussed and debated in the House. “You should have kept the repeal of PSA in the LG’s address if you had an intention,” Lone said. To this, the Speaker said that these matters pertain to the Ministry of Home Affairs. “It cannot be done unless the state is restored,” he said.
Sajad Writes To Speaker Over Rejection Of Amendments To LG’s Address
