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| Assembly Speaker succumbs to pressure from National Conference Ministers, legislators; summons former Army chief to House | | BJP, NPP legislators object to change of ruling; PDP demands setting up of time frame | | Jehangir Rashid
SRINAGAR, Oct 9: Continuous pressure from National Conference Ministers and legislators through Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mir Saifullah forced speaker of legislative Assembly, Mubarak Gul to reverse his earlier ruling and summon former Army chief, General (Retd) VK Singh to the Assembly following his allegations that politicians in Jammu and Kashmir are on pay rolls of Army.
The ruling from the speaker came amidst high pitch sloganeering from legislators of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and National Panthers Party (NPP). The house was later adjourned sine die with majority of business on the final day of 10 day autumn session not taken up by the house.
While the PDP legislators demanded a particular time frame for the summoning of retired Army chief the legislators belonging to BJP and NPP raised their protest against the change of ruling by the speaker. Legislators from opposition benches reached the well of house while raising unprecedented protest with some PDP MLAs standing atop on a bench near the speaker thus causing disruption in the proceedings of the house.
Besides the question hour the house only took up one calling attention notice of MLA Hazratbal, Dr. Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal and extending time with respect to four motions moved by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Revenue and Relief Minister Aijaz Ahmad Khan and MLA Khan Sahib, Hakeem Mohammad Yasin. Neither the zero hour nor discussion on non-implementation of decisions taken in District Development Board meetings could be taken due to pandemonium in house. The house also did not take up the remaining 10 calling attention notices of the members.
As soon as question hour ended speaker informed the house about the decision taken by him with respect to the privilege motion moved by National Conference against the former Army chief. Gul said that he would write a letter to Gen (Retd) Singh and seek his explanation about the revelations made by him while casting aspersions on the credibility and integrity of the politicians of Jammu and Kashmir.
"I will write to General VK Singh and seek his comments about the revelations made by him with respect to the politicians of Jammu and Kashmir. I want to give him an opportunity so that he makes his position and stand clear. There are some reports which suggest that he has changed his statements. I may convene a special session to summon him but right now I cannot take any decision on summoning him to this house. I believe there is no harm in allowing him to explain his position," said the speaker.
On this the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister stood up and asked the speaker to summon Gen (Retd) Singh instead of giving him a chance to explain his position. Saifullah said that there is no point in seeking explanation from former Army chief and instead summon him to house so that he is accounted for the revelations made by him with respect to State's mainstream politicians. However, the speaker said that he will not change his decision and ask the former Army chief to seek his explanation.
PDP legislators and MLA Kulgam, Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami objected to the statement of Saifullah and said that he is trying to dictate terms to the speaker of the house. Tarigami and PDP legislators said that there is confusion among the ranks of Government since the speaker and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister are speaking in different voices.
BJP and NPP legislators like Jugal Kishore, Ashok Khajuria, Harshdev Singh, Balwant Singh Mankotia, Ashwini Kumar, Sukhnandan, Durga Dass, Baldev Raj Sharma, Sham Lal Chaudhary and Gharu Ram Bhagat hailed the speaker's ruling and asked the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister not to influence speaker. On this the speaker said that he cannot be influenced and that he stands by his decision to give former Army chief a chance to explain his position through written communication.
While this was PDP legislator from Sangrama, Syed Basharat Bukhari who reached the well of house. During this melee, Rural Development Minister, Ali Mohammad Sagar also stood up and asked speaker to summon former Army chief to the house. The other PDP legislators who were already on their toes by this time said that Gen (Retd) VK Singh is a civilian and can be easily summoned to the house with the summon issued by speaker without influence from NC Ministers or legislators.
Leader of opposition Mehbooba Mufti said that there seems to be confusion on the issue of former Army chief. Mehbooba said NC and its coalition partner Congress seem to be confused on this issue and that if former Army chief is summoned it would give an opportunity for the mainstream politicians to set their record straight. She along with other PDP legislators demanded voting on the issue so that house could decide whether to summon Gen (Retd) VK Singh to the house. PDP legislators Dr. Shafi Ahmad, Peerzada Mansoor Hussain, Chaudhary Zulfiqar Ali and Javed Mustafa Mir raised slogans in support of voting in the well of the house. This forced the speaker to adjourn the house for 10 minutes.
As the house resumed its business after 10 minutes the PDP legislators continued with their demand for voting on the issue with the speaker denying it categorically. The speaker said that privilege motion is alive and he is yet to announce a decision on the summoning of former Army chief. While the dramatic scenes were going on in the well of the house the speaker in a jiffy announced that Gen (Retd) VK Singh would be summoned to house as majority of the members want that to happen.
Peerzada Mansoor stood atop the table and while pointing towards the public and press galleries he demanded voting on the issue. Reacting to this the speaker said that former Army chief would be summoned to house. However, this did not satisfy PDP legislators who wanted particular time frame in this regard. The speaker replied to this demand by saying that he might summon Gen (Retd) VK Singh within one month.
NPP and BJP legislators raised their protest over the change of ruling from the speaker and accused the NC Ministers of influencing the speaker. As there was pandemonium in house the speaker adjourned the house for 20 minutes. As the house reassembled after the adjournment motion the house took up one calling attention notice of MLA Hazratbal with the others not taken up as the concerned members were busy in raising protest.
The PDP members continued with their demand of setting a particular date for summoning Gen (Retd) VK Singh while as BJP and NPP leaders demanded that the speaker sticks to his earlier ruling of giving Army chief an opportunity to explain his position. During this din four motions seeking extension of time were removed and immediately after that the house was adjourned sine-die. |
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