Ruckus in J&K Assembly as opposition protests against Omar Abdullah's remarks

Pandemonium broke out in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly today with opposition BJP and National Panthers Party MLAs storming the well of the House to protest against chief minister Omar Abdullah's speech over the Kashmir crisis, forcing the Speaker to order marshals to take them out.

High drama was witnessed in the Assembly with the protesting MLAs almost jumping into the well of the House and shouting slogans, which prompted speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone to order marshals to forcibly remove them from the house.

Initially, the marshals tried to accost the MLAs but the latter entered into a scuffle with the Assembly staff, drawing the ire of the speaker.

"What kind of marshals are here? Take them out," Lone said.

The marshals then took out the protesting MLAs out of the house. In the melee, four MLAs -- three from BJP and one from NPP -- and a marshal suffered minor injuries.

They were given first aid by the medical staff present in the Assembly. Some BJP MLAs complained of hypertension.

The Assembly hall was bolted from inside as some members tried to force their way back into the well.

Earlier, as soon as the House assembled for the day's proceedings, Harsh Dev Singh of National Panthers Party (NPP), supported by other opposition parties, sought the permission of the speaker to raise some points with regard to Omar's reply on the law and order debate in the Assembly yesterday.

"The chief minister should not have questioned Jammu and Kashmir being the integral part of India. We raised this issue because there are people here who talk of Azadi, autonomy and self rule," Singh said.

Ashok Khajuria of BJP said anyone having a problem with India should go to Pakistan.

The speaker warned the agitating members to take their seats. "I will not allow this mess in the house".

The protesting MLAs shouted slogans like 'Hurriyat ka agenda nahi chalega (We will not allow Hurriyat agenda)', 'Separatist Government nahi chalegi' and 'Pakistani agenda nahi chalega'.

Later, law and parliamentary affairs minister Ali Mohammad Sagar requested the speaker to allow the opposition MLAs to return to the house.

"Every MLA has a right to express himself but it should be in a peaceful way and not by hooliganism or turning the House into a fish market," Lone responded saying the MLAs were welcome.

However, the BJP legislature party has decided to boycott the remaining part of the Assembly session which will end on October 9.

The NPP has decided to boycott only the proceedings of the day and are expected to be back in the house tomorrow.

The BJP and other opposition members were angry over Omar's remarks while winding up the two-day debate in the state Assembly on the prevailing law and order situation in Kashmir.

In an apparent reference to the saffron party's stand that there was no dispute to be resolved with regard to Jammu and Kashmir, Omar had said if that would have been the case, there would have been no need for the Simla agreement, Lahore declaration and talks in Agra and Delhi.

Omar had also said that "Kashmir was an outstanding issue which needs to be resolved. It is a political issue and cannot be addressed through development, employment or good governance only".