Srinagar:
There was ruckus in the newly elected Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Monday morning – as it held its first sitting in six years – after People’s Democratic Party lawmaker Wahid Parra tabled an impromptu resolution against the scrapping of Article 370 in August 2019.
Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers opposed Mr Parra’s resolution, even as the Speaker, Rahim Rather of the ruling National Conference, said he had not admitted any resolution as yet.
The BJP-led centre revoked Article 370 five years ago, in a contentious move marked by furious protests. This removed special status and split the former state into two union territories.
The rolling back of this move had been among the key poll planks in the run-up to last month’s election – the first in J&K in a decade. However, a day after the NC’s victory was confirmed Chief Minister-elect Omar Abdullah admitted that expecting the BJP to restore Article 370 would be “foolish”. However, he also said this would not deter him or the NC from keeping the issue alive.
“Our political stand will not change. We have never said that we will remain silent on Article 370 or that Article 370 is not an issue for us now. I have said this many times before the elections that hoping for the restoration of Article 370 from the people who snatched it will be foolish,” he said.
