Amid objection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peoples Conference (PC) that adopting the draft business rules for the Assembly would amount to endorsing the abrogation of Article 370, the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly’s Committee on Rules has decided to reconvene on February 11 to discuss the Business Rules.
During a meeting held on Tuesday, the committee reviewed the proposed modifications, some members raised objections and suggested that the speaker should make informal adjustments instead of formally adopting the new rules through the Assembly.
The PDP and PC accused the National Conference (NC) of effectively supporting the constitutional changes made on August 5, 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was revoked.
“Endorsing the draft proposal prepared by the Assembly secretariat will be the most explicit and unforgivable ratification of August 5, 2019, said PC president Sajad Lone in a post on X.
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He warned that such an endorsement would eliminate any future legal challenge to the abrogation of Article 370. “We had hoped the new Assembly would pass a resolution rejecting August 5, 2019, which could serve as a reference in any legal battle. Instead, this is a shocker,” he said.
Lone said that the present Assembly was being used to bury any possibility of a legal challenge. “This Assembly, representing the will of the people of J&K, will now be remembered as the endorser, not the rejector, of August 5, 2019,” he said.
PDP legislator Waheed Para echoed similar concerns. He said modifications in the Assembly’s business rules signified a clear shift from Article 370.
“The new rules mark a departure from Article 370 and effectively endorse the constitutional changes of August 5, 2019. It is a clear acknowledgement of the new status quo,” Para wrote on X.
With the committee set to meet again on February 11, it remains to be seen whether any changes will be made to address the objections raised by opposition members.
