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| 9-Day J&K Assembly Session to Start from Sept 26 | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Srinagar | Sep 25, 2011
Issues relating to the clemency plea for Afzal Guru, unmarked graves and human rights are likely to dominate the proceedings during the nine-day session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly beginning tomorrow.
Fireworks are expected when the assembly debates, on September 28, the resolution moved by Independent MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid seeking clemency for Guru, who is on death row for his role in the attack on Parliament in December 2001.
Main Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has already made it clear that it will support the clemency resolution while BJP has decided to oppose it.
"As a policy matter, PDP is against capital punishment. We have supported mercy for Afzal Guru right from the day his death sentence was announced," PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had said.
Former Union minister and suspended BJP MLA Chaman Lal Gupta had said the state Legislative Assembly does not have powers to pass the resolution as only Council of Ministers can advise the President of the country on such issues. He had written a letter to Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone urging him to drop the resolution from the house business.
The fate of the resolution, however, will be decided by the decision taken on it by coalition partners in the state government -- National Conference and Congress.
The two parties are in a Catch-22 situation. NC will be wary of ceding ground to PDP in Kashmir Valley by opposing the resolution while Congress can ill afford to vote for it as doing so will pave way for BJP to make more inroads in Jammu.
If the two ruling parties were to vote according to popular sentiment in their respective strongholds, they will end up on the opposing sides of the resolution – a situation which the partners would want to avoid.
Both NC and Congress have said a decision on the resolution will be taken at respective Legislature Party meetings but with less than a day left for the session, the meetings are yet to take place.
Among other issues, expected to dominate the proceedings, are the unmarked graves in the state, which came to light after a report was submitted by the investigative wing of State Human Rights Commission last month.
The report said there were more than 2,000 unmarked graves at 38 sites in north Kashmir and the general perception was that the youth buried in these graves could well be those reported missing after arrest by security forces from various parts of Kashmir during the last 20 years of turmoil.
The PDP said it would seek answers from the government on the issue of graves and other alleged human rights violations including unabated arrest of youth for their involvement in last year's unrest during the session.
The repeal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from the state is also likely to figure in the discussions as CPI-M MLA M Y Tarigami has moved a resolution seeking revocation of orders declaring Jammu and Kashmir as a disturbed area. Revocation of Disturbed Areas Act will make AFSPA inapplicable to Jammu and Kashmir
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