Congress MLAs, Engineer Rashid stage walkout from J&K Assembly

Srinagar: Several Congress MLAs and independent legislator Shiekh Abdul Rashid on Wednesday walked out of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly after their respective private members' bills on reservation in promotion in government jobs and revocation of ban on beef were rejected by the Speaker.

As soon as the House assembled, four Congress MLAs led by Nawang Rigzin Jora sought to know from Speaker Kavinder Gupta as to why the private members' bill seeking reservation in promotions in government jobs was not in the list of business.

The Speaker told them the bill had been dropped since the matter was pending before court. The Congress MLAs then stormed into the Well of the House protesting against the Speaker's move and shouted slogans against him.

After disrupting the proceedings for nearly 15 minutes, they walked out of the house. Meanwhile, Langate MLA Rashid also protested against the non-inclusion of his bill seeking revocation of ban on beef in the state.

"If consuming liquor is a matter of choice as said by the Finance Minister, then why should not consuming beef be a matter of choice?" the controversial MLA, who threw a beef party last year to defy the ban, asked.

With the Speaker ignoring his protest, Rashid too walked out. The MLA, in a statement issued later, condemned government for "sabotaging" the bill seeking revocation on beef in the state and called the move "unconstitutional" and "murder of democracy".

"The bill was introduced in the last session and government managed to buy time and ensured that it does not come up for the discussion," he said, adding it was a constitutional requirement that the bill had to be taken up for discussion and voted upon in topmost priority in the next session.

However, the bill did not figure in the list of business on Wednesday. Rashid said the Speaker had "bypassed norms, misused his position and damaged his own integrity and credibility of the House".

"If ministers can say in broad daylight, without caring for the sentiments of Muslims, that the government cannot ban alcohol in the state, why does it use unconstitutional ways and means to stop the anti-ban bill on Beef? If BJP-PDP coalition has decided to implement RSS agenda in state, it could have defeated the bill on the floor of the House rather murdering the spirit of democracy," he said.