By Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 3: Questioning the “delay” in passage of Transworld Muslim University Bill, the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) today created ruckus in the Legislative Assembly with one of the party MLA Javed Mustafa Mir tearing a copy of the Bill even as all party members led by their Legislature Party leader Mehbooba Mufti staged a walk out in the House.
Mr Mir and National Conference legislator from Kupwara Saifullah Mir had yesterday given a notice to Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone on the bill on the ground that the Legislative Council had blocked it. The Speaker had said he would give his ruling today.
The bill to set up the Trans-World Muslim University, sponsored by the Jamiat-e-Ahla-Hadees, as also two other Bills to set up the Sheikhul Alam University, to be sponsored by another sect of the Muslims, and the Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa University were sent to Select Committee in Legislative Council on October 12, 2010.
As soon as the Question Hour was over, all PDP members including Ms Mufti, National Conference legislators-Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan, Saifullah Mir and Kafeel-ur-Rehman besides PDF MLA and former Minister Hakim Mohammad Yasin and Independent legislator Engineer Abdul Rashid were on their feet.
Javed Mustafa Mir raised a query on the fate of the Transworld Muslim University Bill passed by the Legislative Assembly on October 9, 2010 and demanded that the Speaker “summon it” for passage from the Legislative Council as his party colleagues Nizam-ud-Din Bhat and Basharat Bukhari, NC MLA Saifullah Mir and NPP leader Harshdev Singh quoted rules to claim that the Upper House had to take a decision on the bill (pass or reject it) within a specified timeframe.
Another NC MLA and former Minister Choudhary Ramzan said the Council should send back the bill.
The Speaker, however, asked the legislators to show him prescribed timeframe in the rules, which the MLAs were unable to do.
“I have no command over the Upper House. You are very correct that the bill has been passed by us (the Legislative Assembly). The Legislative Council had decided to send it to the Joint Select Committee (JSC). They asked us to give two members for the JSC. We nominated the members. Now where is the fault on our part”? Mr Lone asked.
He said the Rules authorized the member to again move the bill, present it here and “we have the authority to again pass or reject it but definitely I have no authority to command the Upper House”. However, he maintained that the bill was alive and has not been rejected or approved by the Council.
“Till the Upper House takes a decision on the bill (pass or reject it), I can’t go ahead. However, I will ask my Secretariat to get information from the Upper House as to why the bill has been withheld there”, the Speaker assured the agitated MLAs of PDP, National Conference, PDF and an Independent.
Seeking time from the MLAs, the Speaker said he would convey their feelings and observations to the Upper House.
Asserting that the bill was alive, Mr Lone said: “it was a living bill pending in the Upper House. We passed it here and sent it to the Council. They sent it to the Select Committee, which has not worked since then. Let them (the Upper House) give us in writing. Until the information comes from that House, how we can make reference. Let us wait for the result from that House. We can’t list the bill till then”.
“We have given the bill for listing in the business, but it has not been listed for passage” Javed Mir urged the Speaker and sought reply from him.
“The bill is hanging fire for so long in Upper house and even JSC has not been constituted so far. How long will this bill face this fate,” PDP members Abdul Rehman Veeri, Basharat Bukhari, Javed Mustafa Mir and Abdul Gaffar Sofi asked.
Irate over the delay in passing of the bill by the Upper House, Javed Mir tore a copy of the bill and threw the shreds in the air before trooping into the Well along with the members of the opposition PDP.
“We are being deprived of this bill on sectarian basis”, Mir said but was immediately countered by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar by saying “what do you mean by sectarian basis. It was not a lone bill, which was sent to Select Committee. With it two more bills — Sheikhul Alam University and the Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa University– went to Select Committee”.
“Do not mislead the people,” Sagar shot back after heated exchanges with Javed Mir.
“When I brought this bill as private member’s, the then PDP-Congress Government had rejected it and did not allow it to get passed,” Saifullah Mir said and reminded the PDP that it was during the tenure of National Conference Government that the bill was passed in the Assembly but has been blocked by the Upper House.
Amid noisy scenes, Minister for Higher Education Abdul Gani Malik intervened on the issue saying the Government was committed to establishing more institutions of higher learning but the organisations sponsoring and funding them should have financial backing for building infrastructure and creating other resources.
Citing the example of Islamic University, Awantipora being run by the Waqaf Board, Mr Malik said the institution and the Board even didn’t know the relations between each other.
“Questions can be raised on capacity building of these organisations. Before setting up the institutions of learning, the sponsores should come up with requisite infrastructure. Merely passing the bills wouldn’t give highest learning institutions of studies. I can give figures about number of students, who were going to other States for studies”, the Minister said.
This drew the criticism from PDP member Basharat Bukhari, who claimed that the Minister was now opposing the bill in the House and wanted to know where was he when it was passed in the Legislative Assembly.
Gani Malik clarified that it was a technical matter as the bill was pending in the Legislative Council. The Upper House should deliberate on the bill and come up with its report.
“Intentions of mine as well as my Government are very clear. We want new institutions to come up but with requisite infrastructure. We would facilitate correspondence with the Council”, the Higher Education Minister said.
NC MLA Saifullah Mir said it was now a legal issue “beyond the control of Minister as we have already passed the bill but it was the Council, which has neither passed nor rejected the bill but only blocked it. The issue is simple. You have to decide it”.
The Speaker asked Saifullah: “can’t Minister intervene? He is within his rights to speak and give statement on the issue”. However, Saifullah said it was an issued between the House and the Speaker. Mr Lone said he had to listen all and then decide according to the law.
In between, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) MLA and former Minister Harshdev Singh intervened by quoting a rule of J&K Legislative Assembly and told the Speaker that he has powers to summon the bill.
PDP member Nizam-uddin Bhat said that Upper House has neither any power to sit on this bill nor it has right to negate it. Even the Governor and the Upper House cannot disapprove the bill passed by the Lower House, he added.
PDP Legislature Party leader Mehbooba Mufti demanded that Speaker should summon the bill, which was backed strongly by the other PDP members.
“The Government has no intention to pass the bill. It has majority in both the Houses –they can easily pass the bill if they have the intention to do so,” PDP MLA and former Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri said and charged the Government with blocking the bill in the Upper House.
Amid protests, the Speaker said the matter is still pending in Select Committee and has not been passed in Upper House.” I will ask my Secretariat to call details from Legislative Council,” he said, adding: “anyway I leave it to the wisdom of the Upper House”.
On this, Javed Mir trooped into the well again and said “What is democracy in Jammu and Kashmir– you need approval from Centre for doing it”.
Later, all PDP members led by Mehbooba Mufti staged a walkout from the House. 
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