SRINAGAR: Two top officials of the J&K administration came under fire Wednesday from political parties in the union territory for writing to the Assembly and asking it not to proceed with the resolution for the restoration of statehood, which also contained a reference to autonomy and was passed by the House on Monday.Peoples Conference, PDP and Congress sought action against chief secretary Atal Dulloo and the law secretary.Speaking on Wednesday, the last day of the Assembly’s autumn session, Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone said the two officials had undermined the House and sought action against them. “The act of the chief secretary of writing a letter to the Assembly is a disdainful act of brutality against the Assembly. Is he bigger than the people of J&K,” Lone said.Congress chief whip Nizamuddin Bhat the officers had challenged the authority of the Speaker by writing to the Assembly. “It is absolutely unconstitutional. J&K Assembly is not a Panchayati board,” he said.PDP‘s Waheed Parra moved a motion of privilege against two officials, stating that the chief minister had placed on record their conduct as they questioned the contents and language of a resolution of this House. “The power of an elected legislature to initiate, deliberate upon, amend and adopt resolutions is a core parliamentary function. While officers are entitled to provide administrative or legal advice to the govt within the scope of their duties, such advice cannot be permitted to become an instrument for questioning, constraining or intruding upon the legislative privileges and authority of this House,” the motion reads.On Monday, while arguing for statehood restoration, CM Omar Abdullah had said law secretary and chief secretary had written to the Assembly asking it not to discuss the statehood resolution. “I am the law minister and this opinion has gone to you (Speaker) and I have not even seen it. I do not know whether the chief secretary is sending you a letter regarding my resolution,” he said. “Can you imagine this would happen in any state or UT that the chief minister moves a resolution in the Assembly and the law secretary gives an opinion against it. This can happen only here. And similar things happen here every day.”BJP’s Sunil Sharma, who is the leader of opposition in the Assembly, defended the officials and sought action against the chief minister and the Speaker. “In this Assembly, a resolution was brought seeking the pre-1953 position of J&K, for which Omar Abdullah’s grandfather, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, had to spend 22 years in jail. Sheikh Abdullah was similarly seeking a separate Constitution, a separate flag, a requirement for anyone entering J&K to seek permission and a separate head of state for J&K.
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Late Jawaharlal Nehru government sent him to jail because there was no place for such things in the country,” Sharma said.“The resolution brought by Omar Abdullah was unconstitutional. Government institutions and agencies should take serious note of it and should take action against his government,” he said.Sharma said it was an indication of Muslim sub-nationalism.He also said the Congress, which supported the resolution, will have to pay a political price for it as the BJP would take up the issue against the party at the national level.
