Afzal clemency: JKLF,Geelani to launch protest

“By executing Maqbool (Bhat) sahib,you handed gun in the hands of Kashmiri youth. Do you want to repeat that? I appeal to different political shades of India not to push the youth of Kashmir back to violence. This peaceful movement needs genuine space,” Malik said at a press conference here.

Malik called for a protest march on Friday. “On Friday afternoon,the entire leadership of our party will take out a protest march at Lal Chowk. When the Supreme Court announced its decision in Guru case,we launched a campaign. We will revive it.”

Malik termed Wednesday’s events in the Assembly as a drama and alleged that it was already decided in the “private chamber of the Speaker which character will play what role”. “All the parties — NC,Congress,PDP,BJP and Panther’s Party — met in the private chamber of the Speaker. It was decided that the two bigger employees (of Delhi) should be given sleeping pills so that they remain silent in the House and that BJP and Congress will fight over a non-issue,” he alleged,describing the Assembly proceedings as “match-fixing”.

“He (Omar Abdullah) has proved that he is an employee of agencies and not a representative of people. (The legislators of) Tamil Nadu have proved that they are the peoples’ representatives,” Malik said.

Meanwhile,in the Assembly on Thursday,it took 25 minutes for Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone to resolve the issue that caused pandemonium in the House on Wednesday. After a ruckus of 10 minutes and a 15-minute adjournment,as the House was reconvened,the Speaker revealed the names of BJP leaders expelled and suspended by the party — a demand made by the Congress.

Independent MLA Engineer Rashid staged a sit-in on the road to protest against the failure of the House to discuss the resolution.