Srinagar, April 15: MLA Handwara and Peoples Conference President Sajad Lone has launched a scathing critique of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah after the CM acknowledged procedural errors in the J&K Assembly’s handling of the Waqf Bill.
Reacting to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s recent remarks in Pulwama, where the CM acknowledged a procedural lapse by NC members in moving an adjournment motion instead of a resolution, Lone pointed out that he had raised the same issue on April 7 but was met with hostility from members of the ruling party.
Referring to his own tweet made on April 7, when what he termed the “song and dance performance” of NC members began, Lone stated, “What CM Sahib has said today, in my tweet made on the 7th of April, I said exactly the same. And for saying the same, the NC members used all possible political pejoratives against me.”
In his previous post on X, which he referred to as “a reminder to my friends in NC,” he stated that an adjournment motion is, in effect, a censure motion against the government.
“It’s meant to debate the government’s failures. You cannot move an adjournment motion on the Waqf Bill,” the post read.
Lone accused the Assembly, the only one in India’s only Muslim-majority province, of criminal negligence regarding the Waqf Bill. “This is criminal. And those shouting for three days and those who did not allow any business to be transacted need to answer why they behaved the way they did. Who ordered a group of 50 legislators to go on a shouting spree for three days?”
Expressing disbelief at what he described as a collective lapse, Lone questioned the experience and awareness of NC’s veteran lawmakers.
“I don’t believe that the oldest party of J&K, with the most experienced MLAs, did not know what they were doing. This is my second term. If I knew it and tweeted about it on that very day, why wouldn’t your experienced MLAs know? You must have a dozen lawyers in the group of 50 legislators, who were shouting like excited nursery-goers, climbing desks. Are you leading a group of dunces?”
Lone asked if the CM was trying to say that collectively, the Speaker, the CM himself, and all those NC legislators and lawyers from NC could not notice for three days that they were making a mistake.
“Are you telling us that collectively, the IQ of your legislators is such that a glaring mistake staring them in the face for three days went unnoticed?” he added.
Lone accused the government of orchestrating the entire episode to avoid a resolution condemning the Waqf Bill. “Be truthful. This was your script. The whole song and dance performance was orchestrated by you. You did not want a resolution from the J&K Assembly. You are complicit in this crime against the Muslims of India.”
He further charged the NC leadership with suppressing the tiny opposition. “You were not interested in passing the resolution and did not allow the tiny opposition to even make a statement by ordering your ‘geniuses’ to shout and shout, making any sane voice inaudible.”
Recalling CM Omar Abdullah’s absence from the Assembly floor, Lone remarked, “And where were you for three days? I know for some time you were in Tulip Garden.”
Clarifying the procedural options available, Lone emphasized, “Don’t blame your MLAs. It had to be a government resolution and had to be moved by a cabinet member with the consent of the leader of the house. Government resolutions do not need a notice period, nor are they subject to balloting procedures.”
Calling the episode a monumental political loss, Lone demanded accountability and remedial action. “This is a monumental loss and you should apologise. Request the Speaker for an emergency one-day session. He has the power to suspend all rules and allow a resolution.”
He concluded by calling for the Chief Minister to “APOLOGIZE” and “Request the Speaker for an emergency one-day session” to properly address the Waqf Bill issue.
