Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, June 13: Ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Opposition legislators today created ruckus in Upper House against Chairman Haji Anayat Ali’s decision of deleting a resolution submitted by MLC Ramesh Arora wherein he wanted the House to condemn the presence of Chinese army in Gilgit and Baltistan and also recommend Government of India (GoI) to take up the matter at ‘appropriate level’.
As soon as the House met this morning, BJP MLC Ramesh Arora raised the matter of dropping his resolution and said by submitting the resolution he wanted to show concern over the presence of Chinese army in occupied Gilgit and Baltistan. The BJP MLC questioned the deletion of the resolution and asked under what rules the resolution was dropped.
Not only his party colleagues but the BJP member was also supported by Congress and National Conference MLCs including Ghulam Nabi Monga and Dr Shehnaz Ganai. The deletion of the resolution triggered uproar in the House with both Opposition and ruling BJP questioning the Chairman for his decision.
Unhappy over apparent attacks on the House Chairman, Minister for Law Abdul Haq Khan, got up from his bench and told the legislators of both BJP and Opposition that they cannot restrain the powers of Chairman.
He, however, suggested the debate over the issue after the question concludes.
The members, however, continued to disrupt the Question Hour proceedings of the House. “We have not said anything against Pakistan or China. All we want this House to condemn the presence of Chinese army… tell me what is objectionable in this?” said BJP legislator, Ramesh Arora.
The Chairman, in response, told the legislators not to waste the time of the House and let Question Hour continue without any disruption.
Defending the House Chairman, Minister Abdul Haq Khan said discussing international affairs and defence related issues is not the domain of the Legislative Council members. “As if we have solved all of our disputes and issues and now we are supposed to discuss Pakistan and China,” Khan said.
But the pandemonium continued in the House. Shortly after the statement of the Law, the BJP MLC Ramesh Arora said they are ready to discuss the House rules with regard to what to discuss and what not. However, the Minister urged him to take up the matter after conclusion of Question Hour. The Chairman on the other side refused to admit the resolution.
The uproar, arguments and counter arguments between the Minister, Chairman and legislators once again resumed after the Question Hour was over. BJP MLC, Ramesh Arora, said it is against rules to omit the listed resolution. The Minister Abdul Haq Khan once again intervened and said the resolution was deleted yesterday and this was mentioned in Sunday’s bulletin.
Khan also invoked House rules, saying only those resolutions could be submitted in the House which are of ‘general public interest’. “What interest we have got in this (resolution)? What is peoples’ interest in this?”, he asked. He asserted that the issue of Chinese army’s presence in Gilgit and Baltistan is the concern of the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence and urged members to refrain from remarking on these sensitive issues.
Khan reiterated that the Chairman has powers and it is he who regulates the House. However, Ghulam Nabi Monga, the Congress MLC, objected to the statement of Minister and said once listed, the resolution cannot be omitted. Arora said, by his resolution he wanted this House to seek Centre’s intervention into the issue of Chinese presence in Gilgit and Baltistan, which are the ‘integral parts of the Jammu and Kashmir and India’.
However, the Government and Chairman didn’t succumb to the pressure of legislators and instead the resolution was dumped without any further discussion.
The Council, meanwhile, adopted a resolution recommending to the Government of India to sanction one Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and one Indian Institute of Management (IIM) for Kashmir. The
private member resolution was moved by NC MLC Qaiser Jamsheed Lone and it was passed by the House despite Government appealing the legislator to withdraw it.
“The Government is pursuing these issues. It would be better to withdraw this resolution. The government does not outrightly reject the resolution on IIT and IIM for Kashmir, but it is not the proper time to pass this resolution. If the resolution once passed by the House is rejected, it will be a disgrace. So my suggestion to honourable Member is to withdraw the resolution,” Law Minister Abdul Haq Khan,” told Lone while discussing the resolution.
The NC legislator, however, insisted that almost all the members of the House endorsed his resolution. The resolution subsequently was put to vote and it was later passed by majority in the House. Earlier,
while seeking the support of all parties, Lone said Kashmir too should be given IIT and IIM so that people of Valley get better opportunities to pursue their careers.
“This demand is aimed at bringing prosperity and development of all the regions of the State. If we can have two AIIMS, we should also have two IITs and IIMs in State,” he said. Even though the Government
wanted the resolution to be withdrawn, majority of the members from ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party and also Congress supported the resolution.
The House also adopted a resolution for filling the post of Tehsildar only from the Urdu knowing officer. The private resolution was moved by Congress MLC Naresh Gupta. All the members who spoke on the resolution supported the move. However, few members insisted that Urdu should be made the compulsory subject in schools.
Meanwhile, PDP MLC Firdous Ahmed Tak withdrew a resolution wherein he had sought creation of separate “Chenab Valley Development Department” or “Advisory Board for Chenab Valley Department” for formulating and coordinating development plan for up-lifting of this far off and mountainous region.”
Tak withdrew the resolution after assurance from the Government that the hilly area would be the focus of the development of the Government. Many members from his party too requested him to withdraw the resolution while BJP’s Ashok Khajuria and Ramesh Arora strongly opposed calling erstwhile Doda as ‘Chenab Valley’.
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