Srinagar- Peoples Conference president Sajad Lone on Monday said he was not surprised by National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah supporting Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather’s decision to disallow discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
On the NC’s plans to challenge the legislation in the Supreme Court, Lone said while the courts will adjudicate according to legal principles, the emotional appeal that could have been conveyed through the Assembly has been squandered.
“They have 50 MLAs and the Speaker belongs to their party. I fail to understand against whom they were protesting and raising concerns within the Assembly.
“And now Farooq Abdullah comes out in support of the Speaker. This is a tremendous mockery,” Lone said.
The former minister emphasised that a “historic opportunity” was missed to either pass a resolution or at least conduct a meaningful discussion on the contentious amendments to the Waqf Act.
“It could have sent a powerful message from the only Muslim-majority province in the country. Instead, it appeared as though NC was fighting against itself merely to sabotage the discussion and to appease New Delhi,” he said.
“As a sole Muslim-majority province, our collective voice would have carried significant weight but now even if thousands of individuals approach the court separately, the matter will be decided purely on legal grounds rather than reflecting the sentiments of the people,” he said.
Lone alleged that this situation arose because NC wanted to please the BJP MLAs, he added.
Notably, Farooq Abdullah has defended J&K Assembly speaker Abdul Rahim Rather not allowing a discussion in the House on the act, saying “the discussion on Waqf Amendment Act did not happen in the Assembly as the matter is already in the Supreme Court”.
“The Speaker already gave his verdict and it was right on his part because when we are approaching the Supreme Court, there is no point talking about it,” he said.
On opposition calling the pandemonium witnessed in the last three days of the budget session in Jammu from April 7 to 9 as a “fixed match”, the NC president said “has the opposition ever introspected?”
“Who is responsible? Who converted Auqaf into the state Waqf Board? It was the property of Muslims living here. Article 370 would not have been abrogated had they not shaken hands with the Centre (BJP),” he said without naming the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) headed by Mehbooba Mufti.
The NC president was referring to changing the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Auqaf Trust to state-owned Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board during the chief ministership of PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2003.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
