Srinagar, April 18: Peoples Conference Chairman and MLA Handwara Sajad Lone Thursday launched a scathing attack on the National Conference (NC) leadership, accusing them of “shamelessness settling to new lows” over their stance on the Waqf Bill.
Lone, in a statement, recalled how the same Chief Minister, who is now welcoming and analyzing the Supreme Court verdict on the matter, had earlier ensured that no negative resolution against the Waqf Bill was allowed in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
He accused the CM of orchestrating an “ugly cacophonous song and dance performance” in the Assembly, turning the House into a scene of chaos for three days, where, according to him, NC legislators behaved like “ten-year-olds, jumping on desks, shouting and making all other voices inaudible.”
Lone further alleged that during those crucial three days, the CM deliberately avoided the Assembly and instead chose to take a walk in the Tulip Garden with the very person who had presented what he described as an “anti-Muslim bill” in Parliament.
“This typifies the NC style,” Lone said, quoting family friend and former RAW chief A.S. Dulat’s recent book to underline the party’s political maneuvering. “The style is the same — leading from the front in creating impediments, and leading from the front in welcoming removal of impediments. As they say, ‘chit bhi meri, pat bhi meri’.”
Highlighting the significance of the issue, Lone lamented that Jammu and Kashmir’s distinctiveness — as the only Muslim-majority province in India — was never allowed to reflect in the Assembly’s proceedings due to the disruptions caused by the ruling party.
While welcoming the Supreme Court’s observations, Lone asserted that the J&K Assembly should have taken the lead in providing a “politico-religious context” by passing a resolution against the Waqf Bill, rather than “hiding under the fig leaf of the Supreme Court observations.”
