Sajid Raina
Srinagar, Apr 7: Peoples Democratic and Peoples Conference on Monday slammed National Conference over its role in scuttling adjournment motion to discuss Waqf (Amendment) Bill-2025 and lapsing of statehood resolutions.
Peoples Conference chairman and Handwara lawmaker Sajad Lone asked NC why they are not moving a no-confidence motion against its own Speaker for rejecting their adjournment motion.
In a post on X, he said that the Speaker, a member of NC, acted at the party’s direction and blocked a motion brought in by NC lawmakers. He questioned the explanation that the Waqf Bill was sub judice, pointing out that the petition against it had not yet been admitted.
Lone said an adjournment motion is a tool to censure the government for its failures and not appropriate for legislative matters like the Waqf Bill. He added that the correct method to express collective disapproval was through a resolution.
He also referred to the lapse of three resolutions on statehood and compared it with the 2013 incident when a resolution on Afzal Guru lapsed after the NC Speaker adjourned the House amid disruptions.
Lone suggested that the protest over the Waqf Bill may have been a distraction from the statehood resolutions. He also pointed out that senior NC leaders, including Dr Farooq Abdullah and the Chief Minister, were seen walking with Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who introduced the Waqf Bill in Parliament.
PDP leader and Pulwama lawmaker Waheed Parra said that the failure to pass a resolution against the Waqf Bill was a betrayal of the public mandate. He noted that J&K is the only Muslim-majority state in India, and with 60 Muslim MLAs and a Muslim Chief Minister, it should have taken the lead in opposing the Bill.
Parra said that while Tamil Nadu passed a resolution against the Waqf Bill, J&K remained silent. He said the government was playing politics, normalising controversial moves, and facilitating the BJP’s agenda.
Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said it was disappointing that the Speaker had rejected the motion on the Waqf Bill. She said the government, despite having a strong mandate, had yielded to what she described as BJP’s agenda and lacked the courage to debate the issue. She added that the NC could learn from the Tamil Nadu government, which openly opposed the Bill.
