The newly-elected Jammu and Kashmir Assembly faced chaos on the first day after opposition member Waheed Parra of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) moved a resolution against the scrapping of Article 370.
The erstwhile state lost its special status and was bifurcated into two union territories after the Narendra Modi-led Union government abrogated Article 370 in August 2019.
Soon after Parra began reading the resolution, BJP lawmakers protested vehemently and created a din. The Speaker adjourned the House amid the uproar to meet again for Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s address.
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly convened for its first session in six years on Monday, November 4, and will conclude on November 8. Besides the L-G’s address, the Assembly will take up obituary references for former legislators who have passed away since the last session of the erstwhile J&K Assembly.
The Contentious Resolution
The Speaker of the House, Rahim Rather of the ruling National Conference, however, said he had not admitted any resolution as yet.
“This house opposes the revocation of special status of J&K and constitutional disempowerment of Jammu and Kashmir through the J&K reorganisation Act, 2-19 and calls for its complete rescinding,” the resolution reads.
“House further resolves to strive for the restoration of special status and all constitutional guarantees granted to Jammu and Kashmir in their original pristine form,” it read.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti congratulated Parra for moving the resolution.
“Proud of Waheed Parra for introducing resolution in JK Assembly opposing the revocation of Article 370 and resolve to restore the special status. God bless you [sic],” she said in a post on X.
Who is Waheed Parra?
Waheed Parra, the MLA from Pulwama, lost the Lok Sabha Election 2024 from the Srinagar parliamentary seat. He is the President of PDP’s youth wing and was nominated as a Peace Fellow at the Yale International Leadership Centre in 2023 but could not attend as he was denied a passport.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Parra in a military-related case three days after he filed his nomination for the District Development Council (DDC) election from a Pulwama constituency in November 2020. He won the election from jail.
He was granted bail on January 9, 2021, but was again arrested outside the prison by Counter Intelligence Kashmir, a special cell of the J&K Police, for allegedly having links with militants and separatists. He was finally released on bail in June 2023.