National Conference Sunday announced to oppose tooth and nail any move of the PDP-BJP coalition government to handover the beef ban bill to a joint select committee of the State legislature.Senior National Conference leader and former Speaker Assembly Mohammad Akbar Lone said “Supreme court can’t restrain Jammu & Kashmir Assembly for taking up any bill for discussion which has been already listed in the calendar of the assembly’s autumn session”.Reacting to the reports that PDP-BJP Coalition government has decided to handover the beef ban bill to a select committee of the state legislature, the senior National Conference leader and former Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone told KNS “If the reports about the government decision to handover the beef ban bill to a select committee of the state legislature then it is very clear that Speaker Assembly has to allow the opposition to table the bill the house for discussion. As per rules the bill can be handed over to the select committee of the legislature only after it is tabled before the assembly and discussed by the house”. He said ‘let me make it clear that National Conference will tooth and nail oppose the government on handing over the bill to a joint select committee of the state legislature and seek support from even national level political parties like Congress.
Such a decision of the Government would be part of an ill designed conspiracy of ruling PDP-BJP combine to delay the process of scrapping beef ban law. Any such decision will expose the tall claims of PDP on protection of the religious rights of the muslim majority community in the only muslim majority state of the Country”. Interestingly the authoritative sources in PDP and BJP disclosed to KNS that they have by mutual consensus decided to hand over the beef ban bill to a select committee of the state legislature. A top informed source in PDP told KNS “We have in mutual consensus with our ally the BJP decided to hand over the bill to a joint select committee of the state legislature. Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has already told PDP and BJP legislators to restrain from issuing public statements on sensitive issues in recent joint meeting of the legislators of PDP_BJP coalition. ”Reacting to the reports about the government having designs to hand over the bill to a select committee of the state legislature Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee President G.A. Mir told KNS “We won’t react to the unofficial remarks of the government. Once the government announces its decision on the floor of the assembly the Congress legislator will then and there announce the party decision. We will announce a formal decision on October day a day before the beef ban bill is listed for introduction in the assembly” (KNS)