This has to be one of the saddest days in the history of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir. The slugfest witnessed after one of the politician waved a banner which had a politically loaded slogan written over it has left a black spot on political acumen of the representatives elected by voters.
When one enters the privacy of the voting booth it is with a firm belief that the chosen representatives will abide by the decorum of the house and maintain the sanctity of the assembly. The scenes witnessed in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly yesterday has cast doubts whether this session will go all the days till the end. There are strong chanceS that keeping in view the security of all members into consideration the speaker may bring this session of assembly to a premature end. Things looked so bad yesterday that the assembly represented a wrestling ring with blows, and pushes being hurled at each other – a few marshals who tried to intervene also got pushed to the ground.
The speaker did the right thing by removing the members who created ruckus in the first place. However, this punitive action may not be enough. The speaker of the assembly needs to conduct a meeting among heads of all major as well as minor parties having representation in the house and convey a stern warning that any form of violence will incur a temporary ban from entering the assembly.
Whatever the trigger the members need to keep the sanctity of the house in mind. This assembly is emblematic of all those aspirations and hopes that about 14 million people have towards their representatives. It is here in this assembly that all those aspirations and wishes would be fulfilled in a peaceful manner. The speaker should give a terse warning to all that enough is enough and anyone found vitiating the atmosphere of the assembly would be banned from the assembly for a period of six months to two years.
The assembly is a place where ideas should vie with each other and not a ring of wrestlers where physically weak members fear the burly-looking members. Hope peace prevails in the assembly.
