Ruckus caused by the agitated representatives not only from opposition benches but also from some of the ruling parties in the assembly over Afzal Guru issue is not something extraordinary. Peoples’ representatives turning the assembly or the parliament into a fish market on contentious issues has become part of the business of legislature. Tongues are allowed to wag and fists are allowed to flow freely that make the assembly a tamasha. This has happened in the past also.
But of real substance are the anti-national as well as anti-social slogans and words expressed by some of the members of the assembly. Interestingly, among those who bet their breast for Afzal Guru were not only the main opposition PDP members only. There were NC members and their coalition partners also who jumped into the fray and ventilated their pent up sentiments. Slogans of all hues such as anti-India, anti-accession, and pro-separation were raised. From the other side staunch pro-Indian, pro-nationalist and pro-rightist slogans were also heard. It seemed as if the Kashmir and Jammu divide was deepening. Mysteriously, as the opposition and many of its supporters lashed out at the Home Minister for his statement of not returning the mortal remains of Afzal Guru, even the Congress MLAs remained silent and did not counter any of the slogans that run contrary to its ideology. The dissenters of all hues especially the PDP stalwarts made a common cause with the Chief Minister by repeatedly saying that the wishes of the people of Kashmir reflecting in the letter of the Chief Minister to the Home Minster were not honoured. The refrain of their demand was that since the Government of India did not respect the sentiments of the people of Kashmir, therefore the entire relationship had to be seen from a different angle.
The immediate cause of eruption of commotion in the house was when a BJP member protested against using honorifics like sahib and martyr for Afzal Guru. His contention was that Guru was a convict charged with the crime of launching an attack on the parliament and as such he was not a martyr at all. It reminds us of the sadists saying that one man’s terrorist is another man’s hero. Thus Afzal Guru has become a hero for some of the members of assembly who have taken an oath to remain true to the Indian and State constitutions. Guru was hanged strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Constitution.
People elect their representatives to the Assembly. The mandate given to them by the electorate is to voice their problems and grievances in the assembly and see redress through proper procedures. This is not a matter of anger and hatred. By resorting to anger and hatred, the representatives belie the aspirations and expectations of the people who elected them. Assembly is not the place where representatives come to exchange insults and insinuations, snatch mikes and break the furniture and stall the business of the house. It is not a fish market and a free for all. They are paid heavily by the tax payer for each minute of their sitting in the assembly. They are not paid for picking up quarrels, lashing out diatribes and trading insults and humiliations thus wasting the precious time of real business. But this behavior of the elected representatives will not go unnoticed by the electorate. They do feel that politics is being done by projecting Guru case although the fact is that there has not been any massive reaction by the general public in Kashmir on the statement of the Home Minister. If some of the members of the assembly wanted to project demand for the return of the mortal remains of Afzal Guru, this could have been done without creating a day long scene in the assembly forcing the Speaker to adjourn the sessions thrice and allow the grants of various ministries to be passed without a debate. Passing of the grants of these ministries without a debate is a loss to the people of the state in general.
The opposition first raised many doubts on the legal aspects of execution of Afzal Guru but found that it could not muster enough support on that count. It quickly shifted its stance and abandoning the discussion on legalities of the case, took up the issue of return of mortal remains of the convicted person. Everybody knows that the protesting groups in the Assembly are not at all serious on the return of the remains but it is trying to make a strong pretext out of it to whip up the passions of the people. What do they intend to achieve by whipping up passions?
We would appeal the members of the legislature not to give space to emotions and anger. All issues have to be discussed in legislature in an atmosphere of calm and reason. If they want a resolution to be brought, they have to do so through proper procedure. Raising tempers, slogans and fists do not help solve controversial issues. Moreover, threatening to sever relations with the Union on smallest pretexts will not work. We should think of future and not of past. The past cannot be undone and the future has to be rebuilt.
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