The Union Territory of J&K held the first session of its Assembly after a six-year hiatus and witnessed discord among lawmakers about Article 370 which was abolished in August 2019. Chaos dawned on the Assembly after the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker Waheed Parra tabled a resolution against scrapping the region’s special status.
Article 370 empowered Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) with special status and privileges. Post removal, the region was split into two union territories – J&K and separately Ladakh. Parra, a Pulwama MLA, said the House, keeping the sentiments of the people of J&K, opposes the revocation of the special status. However, this drew protests from BJP lawmakers, with Sham Lal Sharma demanding Parra’s suspension saying it violated the assembly rules.
PDP chief and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti lauded Parra for the resolution. She posted on social media saying proud of Waheed Parra for introducing a resolution in the J&K Assembly opposing the revocation of Article 370 and resolving to restore the special status.
However, this didn’t go down well with J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah. He brushed it off saying the resolution brought in by PDP had no importance and that it was only for the cameras. Abdullah said they knew about what was coming.
J&K Not Happy With Article 370 Abrogation
But he added that the reality is the people of J&K do not approve of the abrogation of Article 370. The J&K chief minister highlighted that if the people had approved, the results today would have been different.
However, Abdullah said that how the House will reflect and discuss the issue will not be decided by one member alone. He added that if PDP’s resolution was actually of importance, and there was purpose behind it, the lawmaker and his party would have discussed it with them before hand.
