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Srinagar : J&K Peoples Conference Chairman and MLA Handwara Sajad Lone has raised serious questions about the ruling party NC’s commitment to both opposing the contentious Waqf Bill and pursuing the restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir.
Lone meticulously dissected what he described as the contradictory actions of the NC, questioning the authenticity of their opposition to the Waqf Bill while highlighting procedural inconsistencies in their approach.
“If NC’s song-and-dance performance in the Assembly is not theatre—why is NC not bringing a no-confidence motion against its own Speaker for disallowing their adjournment motion?” Lone asked pointedly, drawing attention to the fact that the Speaker who rejected the NC’s motion belongs to their own party.
On the procedural front, Lone provided clarification, saying, “Let me tell my friends in NC that an adjournment motion is a censure motion against the government. It is brought to discuss the failures of the government. You cannot bring an adjournment motion on the Waqf Bill.”
He elaborated on appropriate legislative mechanisms, stating, “The only legislative device to condemn the move was a resolution. It was the only tool available to us to express our collective disapproval of this law.”
The most concerning issue in Lone’s assessment was the revelation that “three resolutions seeking restoration of statehood lapsed today.” He drew parallels to a similar situation in 2013 when “a resolution brought on Afzal Guru lapsed… when the NC Speaker adjourned the House after Congress, then an ally of the NC-led government, created a pandemonium out of the blue.”
This raised the provocative question posed by Lone: “So was this song and dance about the Waqf, or about stalling and delaying statehood resolutions?”
Furthermore, Lone highlighted what he perceived as contradictory behavior by NC leadership, stating, “Dr. Farooq sahib and CM sahib, both NC, went on a morning walk with Kiran Rijiju sahib, who is a Union Minister and the one who presented the bill in Parliament.”
“Fail to understand this judge, jury, and executioner role of NC,” Lone remarked, questioning how the party could simultaneously protest against—and socialize with—the proponents of the bill.
Concluding his statement, Lone addressed broader implications: “The single Muslim-majority province in India fails to collectively condemn the Waqf Bill—and instead allows three bills on statehood to lapse.”
In what he characterized as “the most audacious snub to Muslims all across the country,” Lone expressed dismay that “the CM of this only Muslim-majority province in India is seen in the company of a Union Minister who presented this bill in Parliament.”
