If leaders not safe, the national flag they hold, will not be safe: Speaker
*Thousands killed as NC denied security to them: Sajjad Lone
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 31: Issue of reported withdrawal of security from ruling National Conference headquarters Nawa-i-Subh in Srinagar and legislators of NC and its ally Congress rocked the Legislative Assembly today with Alliance leaders taking serious exception to it as some of them said the security of BJP and RSS leaders and offices has not been withdrawn.
However, the BJP supported ruling party legislators on the issue of immediate return of the withdrawn security cover notwithstanding that a couple of ruling party MLAs said the Lieutenant Governor will be responsible if their party office is targeted.
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Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather said the House is supreme and its representatives are elected by the people and it is not proper to withdraw security of NC headquarters where party president Dr Farooq Abdullah, who recently survived assassination attempt, visits twice or thrice a week. He said they are not speaking against the Lieutenant Governor but the system as those carrying the country’s flag should be protected.
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The issue also saw heated exchanges between National Conference members including Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Ghani Lone, who said thousands of people were killed because they (the erstwhile NC Governments) didn’t provide security cover to them. Choudhary demanded that Lone should vacate the bungalow he has been occupying since he was Cabinet Minister.
As soon as the House assembled this morning, NC MLA Hasnain Masoodi and other NC members were on their feet telling the Speaker that they have submitted adjournment motion on withdrawal of security. Rather told them that the issue will be taken up after the Question Hour.
While Chief Minister Omar Abdullah didn’t speak inside the House, outside the Assembly he expressed surprise over the withdrawal of security at NC headquarters in Srinagar, pointing out that the move comes barely weeks after an assassination attempt on party president and his father, Dr Farooq Abdullah.
In a brief chat with media persons, Omar said the decision was difficult to comprehend, especially when the office is visited by the party chief two to three times a week.
“The security at NC headquarters has not been reduced, but completely withdrawn. That in itself is surprising, because it has barely been a week since the attack on Farooq Abdullah. At the time, everyone said it should not have happened, and it is a matter of concern,” he added
“As one of my colleagues rightly pointed out, Farooq Abdullah visits that office two to three times a week, and you have completely removed the security of that office. What is the compulsion? What is the reason that it had to be removed? If we come to know from the administration, it would be good,” Omar said.
At the end of points raised by the legislators from all sides, Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather said authorities must declare Jammu and Kashmir “risk-free” or ensure security for all.
“If leaders are not safe, the national flag they hold, unfortunately, will not be safe,” he said, cautioning against a “pick-and-choose” approach and calling for a fair, merit-based security system.
“The members of this House have raised the security concerns, including withdrawal of their escort vehicles, which require urgent attention. The message from this House is loud and clear: if you do not want to provide security, then declare Jammu and Kashmir a risk-free state. But a pick-and-choose approach has no merit. We are not speaking against any institution or the Lieutenant Governor; we are speaking against the system,” Rather said.
Referring to the recent assassination attempt on National Conference president Farooq Abdullah at a function here on March 11, he asked:”If you are withdrawing security from his office, what message are you sending to the people?”
“He (Farooq Abdullah) visits the headquarters quite frequently, and I don’t think it is proper to withdraw security from there. You cannot justify it,” Rather asserted, while thanking members from both the treasury and opposition benches for speaking in one voice on the security concerns.
It was NC MLA Hasnain Masoodi who raised the issue in the Assembly, calling it a “serious and grave” matter, given the recent attack on Abdullah. He was joined by party colleagues, including Nazir Ahmad Gurezi, Salman Sagar and Javid Hassan Baig and Congress legislator Nizam-ud-Din Bhat.
Disclosing that security of Nawa-i-Subh, the NC headquarters in Srinagar, has been withdrawn, Masoodi described it as a “serious issue” saying the NC has given sacrifices as their leaders and workers were targeted and only recently the party chief Farooq Abdullah was attacked.
“Escorts and other security of our MLAs has also been withdrawn,” Masoodi said demanding that a direction should go from the Speaker.
Another NC legislator Nazir Gurezi said if there is an attack or killings because of security withdrawal at the NC headquarters, the Lieutenant Governor will be responsible. He demanded that security of the party office and legislators should be restored.
However, People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Gani Lone accused NC leaders of politicizing the security issue, alleging that his pleas for protection were ignored even when he was going to attend the funeral of his father, Abdul Gani Lone, who was assassinated by terrorists, triggering a heated exchange with NC legislators.
“Thousands of people were killed because you (a reference towards National Conference) didn’t provide security cover to them when you were in power,” Lone said, adding he too has no security guard at his house.
Addressing the Chair, he said when he raised the issues of PSA, police verifications etc he was told that the House has no power to raise them. “Now why are you allowing security issues to be discussed”? he asked. The Speaker, however, replied that he had referred only to norms on adjournment motion and Resolution and never stopped discussion.
As Lone advised the NC MLAs to write to the Union Home Minister on the subject, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said Lone should vacate the House he has been keeping since the Cabinet Minister. Lone said he will vacate the house if it is yours. There was heated exchange of words between the two.
PDP’s Rafiq Ahmad Naik urged NC legislators to place their faith in Almighty Allah, saying that even those with security cover have lost their lives in the past, while others without protection have survived.
Congress MLA Nizam-ud-Din Bhat urged the House to adopt a resolution to restore fair and adequate security arrangements, saying the priority should be safeguarding human lives rather than assets. He said there are troubling instances where security has been withdrawn without prior notice.
Bhat said a worker of one party has seven guards in his house while he has none.
NC MLA Salman Sagar said security is not a status symbol for them. He added that those who don’t deserve and one party with no following in Kashmir have been given security.
NC MLA Javaid Baig described the issue of withdrawal of security as “sensitive’ saying this doesn’t pertain to just NC office or its MLAs and charged Sajjad Lone of trying to bail out the Lieutenant Governor, BJP and police.
“Lone’s father was our leader also. Rise above the politics and behave like a leader of Jammu and Kashmir. Whether these powers will always remain with the Lieutenant Governor? The LG should do justice,” Baig said and charged him with promoting agenda of the BJP and RSS.
“Many BJP leaders told me privately that they too have been rendered irrelevant,” Baig said.
BJP MLA Surjit Singh Slathia said the ruling party legislators have raised the issue of security and they have made it clear that it is concern of all of us.
“We too have expressed our concerns that the security (of the legislators) should be returned. You don’t understand the issue. Why are you dragging the Lieutenant Governor, BJP and RSS in this? You should raise issues of the public and allow proceedings of the House to run,” Slathia said.
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