J&K Assembly adjourned over resolution for clemency to Afzal Guru

A slugfest of accusations between ruling Congress and opposition BJP led to adjournment of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for the day as the resolution seeking clemency for Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru could not be taken up for discussion.

Assembly Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone adjourned the House for the day as BJP and Congress members stormed the Well while trading charges against each other.

BJP and National Panthers Party (NPP) members took to their feet as soon as the House assembled for the day's proceedings.

They demanded that the resolution seeking clemency for Guru, which was listed in the business for today, be dropped from the list.

Shouting slogans against the resolution, the BJP and Panthers members said it was "anti-national" to discuss the matter as Guru had been sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in the Parliament attack case.

Congress legislators, including ministers, also rose from their seats, demanding expulsion of the BJP MLAs who were allegedly involved in cross-voting during the Legislative Council elections earlier this year.

While Congress ministers continued to stand at their seats, the party legislators stormed the Well of the House.

All pleas of the Speaker to restore order in the House failed and prompted first adjournment for 30 minutes.

As soon as the House reassembled, both BJP and Congress members repeated the scenes witnessed earlier in the day forcing the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings for another hour.

When the proceedings resumed at 12 noon, Congress members again demanded that Speaker name the BJP MLAs who were expelled from the party for cross-voting.

Infuriated by the Congress demand, the BJP members started shouting slogans demanding those involved in the 2006 sex scandal case should be expelled from the House.

Both BJP and Congress MLAs, other than ministers, stormed into the Well of the House and nearly came to blows.

Irked by the disruptions, Independent MLA Shiekh Abdul Rashid, who had submitted the resolution, also stormed into the Well and kicked the fans and tables.

As the situation began to go out of control, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said it was unfortunate that House proceedings were disrupted. "We would have liked that the business of the day is taken up as per norms," he said.

Reacting to accusation of Opposition PDP that the disruptions were stage-managed by the state government, he said it showed the thinking of the party.

Asked about his party's stand if the resolution had been taken up, Omar said, "We were told by the party president (Farooq Abdullah) to vote according to our conscience as it was a private member's resolution."

Earlier, Mehbooba Mufti said the "drama" in the Assembly was directed by National Conference while Congress and BJP were its actors.

Another PDP leader, Muzaffar Hussain Beigh, said the issue was raised first by the Chief Minister through his tweet about Tamil Nadu Assembly passing a resolution for convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

"After igniting the debate, he should have taken a stand," he said.

Rashid told reporters political parties in the state Assembly were sabotaging the resolution seeking clemency for Guru at the behest of the Central government.

"They are sabotaging my resolution on Afzal Guru. They are doing it at the behest of New Delhi... All of them are involved including PDP whose members remained silent," Rashid alleged.

The resolution seeking clemency for Guru, who is on death row for his role in the attack on the Parliament in December 2001, was submitted to the Speaker by Rashid on September 2.