Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Aug 30: After keeping it pending for about six years on one pretext or the other and shuttling it between Select Committee to Joint Select Committee, the National Conference-Congress coalition Government today finally dumped the Kashmiri Hindu Shrines and Religious (Management and Regulation) Bill, 2009 as entire pending business of 11th Assembly lapsed today with adjournment of last and 12th session of the Assembly this afternoon.
Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled to go to the Assembly elections in November-December this year and this was last session of the 11th Assembly.
Official sources confirmed to the Excelsior that entire pending business of 11th Assembly including official and private member’s bills, resolutions, Select and Joint Select Committee reports, which were not passed today, have lapsed. “The business of this Assembly won’t pass on to the next Assembly, which will be constituted by the end of December or start of January,’’ they said.
The Kashmiri Hindu Shrines and Religious (Management and Regulation) Bill was mired in the controversy right from the day it was introduced in the Assembly in 2009, the first year of NC-Congress dispensation in the power and remained so till the very end as Joint Select Committee (JSC) meeting called by JSC Chairman and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saifullah Mir on August 19 was not even attended by the Chairman leave apart the other members, some of whom had turned up to attend it.
Despite calling the meeting, Saifullah himself didn’t make it to the meeting venue in Srinagar.
A day before the JSC meeting, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev had written a strong worded letter to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, which was published exclusively by the Excelsior, warning agitation nationwide if the bill was approved by the JSC and passed in the Assembly.
The JSC meeting was not held and, therefore, it couldn’t submit its report in last session of the Assembly, a result of which the bill lapsed. Sources confirmed that the bill has lapsed. In fact, not only the Shrines bill but all Government and private member’s bills, resolutions, Select and Joint Select Committee reports, which were pending or which couldn’t be submitted till last day of the last session, have lapsed as legally no business of the Assembly can be forwarded to next Assembly.
However, sources pointed out, this is not the case with the Legislative Council, which works in continuity and is not dissolved as only its two-third members retired after every two years.
Sources said National Conference, PDP, CPM and some Independent MLAs from Kashmir were in favour of the bill but NC’s coalition partner—the Congress, BJP and NPP were opposed to the bill in its present form. Moreover, since Speaker Mubarak Gul has asked the JSC to give its report on the bill in last session, the JSC couldn’t do so as it didn’t hold even a single meeting on the bill from last budget session, which had concluded on March 4 to the present session, which had started on August 25.
The Speaker had set up the JSC after prolonged delay but even after its constitution, it didn’t meet even once to take up the bill.
The bill was first brought as a private member’s bill by then Leader of Opposition Abdul Rahim Rather, presently Finance Minister in the Assembly in 2004 but then Finance and Law Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig had assured him that the Government will bring a bill on its own. The Government didn’t bring the bill till Governor’s rule was imposed in the State in July 2008.
However, immediately after taking over the reign of affairs, NC Congress coalition Government introduced comprehensive bill on the Kashmiri Hindu Shrines in 2009 in very first session of the Government. The fate of the bill remained uncertain till April 2013 when it was taken up in the House but referred to Select Committee on the demand of Congress.
In September 2013 session, the Select Committee submitted its report and favoured passing of the bill. On March 2, 2014 during budget session of the Assembly in Jammu, the bill was taken up for passing but Congress, BJP and NPP opposed it and the Speaker sent it to the JSC, which didn’t hold a single meeting and last session of the present Assembly concluded today, leading to lapse of the bill.
Sources said there were different views among the political parties on the bill. While some of the political parties, social and religious organisations were of the view that all temples and shrines across the Valley should be incorporated in the bill for the purpose of management and regulation while another view was that the shrines managed by Dharamarth Trust, Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Dashnami Akhara and Barha Akhara should be excluded.
Yet another viewpoint was that word ‘Kashmiri Hindus’ in the bill should be replaced by Hindus on the ground that Hindu can’t be divided into Kashmiri, Jammu or Punjabi and only the word The Hindu Shrines and Religious Places should be used in the legislation.
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