J&K Assembly pays tribute to deceased legislators

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, which met here for the six-day autumn session, Monday paid tributes to four former legislators from the state who died over the past six months.

During the obituary reference, the Assembly also paid respects to children killed in Israeli strikes in the Palestinian territory of Gaza over the past one month.

A two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect for the deceased legislators and the child victims of Gaza conflict.

Speaker Mubarak Gul read out the condolence motion in respect of Chaudhary Mohammad Aslam, the sitting MLA from Surankote at the time of his death and former legislators Abdul Ahad Vakil, Mohammad Akbar Ganai and Mehmooda Ahmad Ali Shah.

While Aslam and Vakil had been speakers of the state Legislative Assembly, Ganai had served as a minister.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah described the deceased legislators as selfless people who had served people and the state throughout their lives.

"One thing common to these four members of this house was that they ended their political careers with the same party they had started with. They did not switch parties if they were not given party ticket or ministerial berth as we see today," Abdullah said.

PDP leaders AR Veeri, Sardar Rafiq Khan, CPI(M) MLA MY Tarigami, expelled BJP MLA Chaman Lal Gupta, National Conference MLA Mustafa Kamal, Congress MLA Shabir Ahmad Khan and Sharief Niyaz also paid tributes to the former legislators.

Upon Tarigami's suggestion, also backed by the Chief Minister, the Speaker suspended the rest of the day's business as a mark of respect to the former legislators.

Noisy scenes were briefly witnessed in the House as Gupta and National Panthers Party MLA Harsh Dev Singh tried to raise the issue of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the border.

As Abdullah tried to address the concerns expressed by members, Opposition PDP members took to their feet demanding the government to make a statement on the losses caused by recent hailstorm in the valley.