Jammu, March 8
Second thoughts have developed on the
controversial Kashmir Bill which sought to deny property rights to girls
marrying outsiders.
Concerned at widespread public outcry and the impact it can
have on the coming elections, the Congress High Command has told the Mufti
government to refer the Bill to a select committee of the state
Legislature.
The Mufti government is yet to take a decision on the Congress
move, but has promised to remove the gender bias.
It is possible the select
committee move may be made in the state Legislative Council when it meets in
Jammu on Thursday.
The U-turn in the attitude of the Congress has come
following the displeasure that Mrs Sonia Gandhi is learnt to have expressed on
the issue to Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed and Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram
Sharma on the telephone yesterday.
However, in a bid to scuttle the attempt of
the ruling coalition, the opposition National Conference this afternoon issued a
whip to all its 15 members in the 30-member Legislative Council to attend the
session on Thursday.
As any motion on the Bill in the council would be a
property of the House, the coalition would not be in a position to take any
decision on its own because of the present composition of the House. The
National Conference has 15 members, including the Chairman, the Congress has
eight members, the PDP has a strength of five, while one member each belongs to
the Panthers’ Party and the CPM.
The passing of the Bill by the Assembly has
created serious problems for the Congress at the national level as this has
given a handle against it to the BJP and other Opposition parties at the time of
the Lok Sabha elections.
Although the Mufti and his PDP were silent on the
controversy generated by passing of the Bill, Mr.Sharma came out with a two-page
statement today, saying, “We have been advised by AICC President Sonia Gandhi
that in view of the importance of the legislation, it will be more appropriate
to have a thorough debate on the issue. It can be done by referring the Bill to
a select committee of the Upper House that will meet on March 11 to discuss the
Bill. We are accordingly agreeable to this suggestion to put to rest any
apprehensions and misunderstandings about the legislation.”
In a chain of
events against the Bill, women activists of the BJP, trying to march towards the
Secretariat here this morning, were cane-charged by the police.
A BJP spokesman
alleged that the women activists, who were observing International Women’s Day
as a black day, were beaten up, and two of them were hospitalised. About 70
women were arrested. Among them were Mrs Rekha Gupta, wife of Mr Chaman Lal
Gupta, Minister of State for Defence, the BJP women’s wing chief, Ms Surekha
Chaudhary, and Mrs Mamta Singh, wife of Dr Nirmal Singh, state BJP chief.
On
the other hand, Mr Bhim Singh, Chairman of the Panthers’ Party that is
supporting the Mufti government, today threatened to pull out of the coalition
in case the “draconian and anti-woman” Bill was not withdrawn on March 11.
Mr
Bhim Singh said he would generate a countrywide movement against the government
and also take the issue to the Supreme Court.
The Panthers’ Party made a
beginning in taking to streets against the bill today by staging a dharna
outside Raj Bhavan. The women’s wing of the party had yesterday burnt the effigy
of Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed outside Raj Bhavan.
In a statement, Dr Farooq
Abdullah, former Chief Minister and patron of the National Conference, today
said the NC had always stood for preservation and protection of Article 370 and
shall in future also not allow anyone to dilute it.
While renewing the party’s
resolve to uphold the state subject law and infact further strengthen it, Dr
Abdullah said the NC would not deter from its stand in the just-concluded
session of the Assembly and its stand would get further vindicated by the debate
in the Legislative Council on March 11. Mr Chaman Lal Gupta, described the Bill
as more dreaded than the dress code and other diktats issued by fundamentalists
and terrorists. In an appeal to the fair sex on Women’s Day, Mr Gupta alleged
that under the cover of a special status of the state, the Bill introduced by
the Congress-PDP-Panthers’ Party coalition and their supporters was a crude
attempt to bypass the verdict of the High Court and discriminate against the
daughters of J&K ignoring the basic principle of equality provided in the
Constitution.
Meanwhile, in a reaction to the Bill, Mr Onkar Seth, spokesman of
the Jammu State Morcha (JSM), accused the Congress of playing second fiddle to
those leaders of Kashmir who were directly and indirectly supporting terrorists
and anti-national elements.
