Srinagar: Peoples Conference chief and Handwara MLA, Sajad Gani Lone has accused the National Conference of deliberately sabotaging the crucial debate on the Waqf bill during the final days of the just concluded Assembly session.
Lone criticised the NC for creating what he described as “chaos and bedlam” inside the Assembly to avoid serious legislative discussion. He claimed that NC MLAs, despite having a brute majority, turned the House into a scene of disorder and used disruptions as a tool to stall the Waqf bill deliberations.
“They held the assembly to ransom. Overgrown uncles jumping on tables, shouting, tearing papers, resembling a scene from a nursery school rather than a legislative house,” Lone wrote.
He also made sarcastic references to the Speaker, calling him an “unworried principal” who appeared complicit in the drama.
Lone expressed dismay over the Speaker’s refusal to entertain a discussion on the Waqf bill, citing sub judice grounds, even as an adjournment motion was moved.
In response, the Kashmir-based opposition, including Lone’s party, proposed a no-confidence motion against the Speaker, which was not supported by the NC.
“The NC enjoys power, a Chief Minister, a Speaker, a Cabinet — but when it came to defending religious matters, they chose silence over responsibility,” Lone said. “If the Speaker was an obstacle, they could have replaced him. But they chose theatrics over action.”
He accused the NC of failing the people by not opposing what he called a “draconian Waqf bill,” and termed the episode as “the mother of all betrayals”.
Lone warned that the historic opportunity for Jammu and Kashmir’s Muslim-majority Assembly to assert its voice on religious matters had been lost forever.
“The shouting brigade was NC, the Speaker was NC, the tulips were NC. Yet the will of the people was suppressed in bedlam,” he wrote. “The Waqf betrayal will go down as a dark chapter in our legislative history.”
Lone’s remarks come amid growing public interest and political sensitivity surrounding the Waqf bill, which many view as infringing upon the autonomy of religious institutions. The Assembly has now been adjourned sine die.
