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Sunday, October 4, 2015

J&K MLA disrupts Assembly proceedings over beef ban

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
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SRINAGAR, Oct 3: Independent member from Langet, Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid, on Saturday disrupted beginning of Assembly's autumn session while asserting that cow-slaughter and beef consumption should be decriminalised in the Muslim majority State of Jammu and Kashmir.

As soon as Speaker Kavinder Gupta picked up the obituary references at the beginning of the week-long session, Rashid began shouting that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led PDP-BJP coalition was pushing the RSS agenda of banning cow-slaughter in Jammu and Kashmir. He asserted that Jammu and Kashmir was a predominantly Muslim-majority State and no government or political party could proscribe beef which was Halal in Islam and consumed by the Muslims.

Rashid directed his anger even on Speaker Mr Gupta, alleging that the House's Presiding Officer was "biased" against the members seeking a debate on the three opposition Bills demanding lifting of the 1862 ban

With the beginning of the session when speaker Assembly Kavinder Gupta started reading obituary references, MLA Langate Engineer Rashid stood up from his seat with a placard in his hand reading ‘No interference in religious affairs’ tried to make it to the well of the house but was prevented by the marshals, however he continued to disrupt the speaker till the end.

Rashid shouted that J&K was a Muslim majority state and nobody there would be allowed to dictate RSS terms to the masses. “When Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Shareef can speak on any issue in the UN General Assembly, why can’t we speak here on this beef ban issue? We are also elected representatives,” Rashid shouted.

Asking Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed to clear his stand on the beef ban issue, Rashid said, “PDP- BJP is carrying forward RSS agenda here. PDP must clear its stand on the beef ban issue.” According to him, Speaker was not letting him speak on the subject. "Allow me to speak or else ho and join RSS or VHP", Rashid shouted on the Speaker while staging a walkout in protest.

None of the other 88 members of the House however supported or confronted the maverick MLA who has his origin in late Abdul Gani Lone's Peoples Conference.

Substantive business in both Houses of the Legislature is scheduled to begin on Monday. According to well placed official sources, Speaker has admitted the three pro-beef Bills from NC's Ali Mohammad Sagar and Akbar Lone besides CPM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami and the independent MLA Engineer Rashid. The Bills are likely to come up for consideration and passage on October 8th which is being fixed for discussion on 10 private members' Bills.

While as BJP is demanding blanket ban on cow-slaughter and consumption of beef with strict enforcement of the law originally adopted by Maharaja in 1862, its coalition partner PDP has publicly taken the pro-beef stand identical to that of the opposition National Conference and other opposition Muslim MLAs Engineer Rashid, Hakeem Yasin and Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami.

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