Video: J&K Assembly erupts in chaos, fist fights as CM moves statehood resolution

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly witnessed massive uproar on Friday after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah moved a resolution seeking the immediate restoration of full statehood to the Union Territory.

The tabling of the resolution drew strong protests from BJP MLAs, who objected to the reference to a controversial resolution passed by the erstwhile state Assembly in 2000.

The opposition legislators stormed the well of the House and clashed verbally with members of the ruling National Conference, with the disruption escalating to fist fights.

Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather adjourned the House for 30 minutes after his repeated appeals to members to return to their seats went unheeded.

The resolution moved by Abdullah said: "In addition to the resolutions passed by this House on 26 June 2000 and 6 November 2024, the House calls upon the Government of India for the immediate and urgent restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and resolves that this resolution be forwarded to the Government of India."

As soon as the chief minister tabled the resolution, members on the treasury benches welcomed it by thumping their desks.

However, the reference to the 2000 resolution led to protests by BJP MLAs. Vikram Randhawa, one of the party legislators, was marshalled out after creating a ruckus.

The saffron party members objected to the mention of the autonomy resolution moved by the National Conference government in June 2000, when Jammu and Kashmir was a state.

The NC-led government headed by Farooq Abdullah, Omar's father, had passed that resolution on June 26, 2000, seeking the restoration of greater autonomy as it existed before August 9, 1953.

On November 6, 2024, the House passed another resolution seeking the restoration of special status.

"We will not allow discussion on the issue of autonomy in the house," BJP MLA RS Pathania said.

BJP MLAs also alleged that rules were flouted because the chief minister read out the resolution before tabling it in the House, and they tore copies of the resolution.

Following the pandemonium, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah accused BJP MLAs of creating a ruckus in the Assembly to avoid voting in favour of the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

Talking to reporters inside the assembly premises after Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather adjourned the house for 30 minutes, Abdullah said the resolution he tabled in the house was not for greater autonomy or special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Referring to the unruly scenes and sloganeering, the chief minister said, "You saw how the BJP reacted to this. Because they simply do not want to vote on statehood. They want to back out of this vote under one pretext or another."

The House was eventually adjourned till Monday, September 28.- Ends(With inputs from agencies)

Sunil Ji Bhat currently heads the Jammu Bureau of India Today Group and reports for both India Today TV and Aaj Tak.

From covering terror attacks and Pakistani shelling at the Line of Control (LoC) and international border (IB) to reporting from anti-terrorist operations' sites, Sunil's ground reportage has been the best and unmatched. In his special reports from Jammu, Sunil has also brought to the fore the plight of Valmiki Samaj, West Pakistan refugees, Gorkha community, displaced communities from Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) and displaced Kashmiri Pandits. He has also highlighted the narrative of Jammu which is very different from Kashmir narrative. Sunil has filed many heart wrenching stories on terror victims and given voice to the voiceless. He is also a knowledge powerhouse when it comes to ancient, political, cultural history of Jammu & Kashmir.

Sunil has interviewed senior politicians from J&K like National Conference Chief & former J&K CM Dr Farooq Abdullah, senior Congress leader & former J&K CM Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina, former J&K Deputy CMs Kavinder Gupta & Dr Nirmal Singh and many other important politicians. Sunil has also interviewed national politicians like Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Anurag Thakur, BJP's national general secretary Tarun Chugh, senior BJP leaders Ram Madhav & Vinod Tawde, senior Congress leaders Ambika Soni and Ragini Nayak, senior AIADMK leader & former Tamil Nadu Minister RB Udhaykumar and nation's real estate tycoon Niranjan Hiranandani.

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