NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced on Friday that it would run a parallel government in Jammu and Kashmir if Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather continues with actions that, it claims, threaten the “nation’s sovereignty and integrity.” This comes as the J&K Assembly witnessed unabated chaos for the third consecutive day over a contentious resolution demanding the immediate restoration of special status to the Union territory.
The unrest began as the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC) introduced a new resolution pushing for the reinstatement of special status. The BJP, opposing the resolution, labeled it “illegal,” demanded its withdrawal, and staged a walk out.
“We previously held a parallel assembly outside after the Speaker had our MLAs expelled. We brought up issues from our constituencies, and the media reported on it,” Leader of Opposition in assembly Sunil Sharma was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The Leader of Opposition warned that the BJP can run a parallel government. “The Speaker should not take this parallel assembly lightly. If your behaviour challenges Indian integrity and sovereignty, we will run a parallel government and this is my warning to them,” he said.
Sharma said the way the Speaker has conducted the Assembly is condemnable.
“We condemn it. This will be the darkest day in the history of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. The Assembly was constituted by the people with the hope that their problems regarding water, electricity, hospital and education will be solved,” he said.
“However, the Speaker has functioned as an agent of a particular party and performed an unconstitutional and illegal act in an undemocratic way,” Sharma said.
The BJP leader said that all MLAs had come to the assembly to discuss issues from their respective areas, but the National Conference’s (NC) “separatist mindset” had diminished the dignity of the House by introducing the resolution.
Sharma further said, “It’s unfortunate that the Speaker claims the call for special status equates to a demand for the reinstatement of Article 370, effectively acting as a spokesperson for the National Conference.” He said that Article 370 was repealed by the country’s highest democratic institution and the matter was settled by the Supreme Court.
“Article 370 is now part of history. They’re equating it with the term ‘special status,’ which doesn’t even exist in the Constitution.”
He then challenged chief minister Omar Abdullah, stating, “If any reference to special status for Jammu and Kashmir can be found in the Constitution, I’ll step away from politics.”
The BJP leader also claimed that the NC led by Omar Abdullah wants to incite street violence in the name of special status.
“Under the special status, Kashmiri Pandits were forced to migrate, Asiya Neelofar was murdered, Tufail Mattoo was murdered and Haji Yousuf was killed in the house of the chief minister. They want this (kind of) special status back,” he said.