The Congress on Monday pressed for a discussion on Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha, arguing that the government’s claims about peace following the scrapping of Article 370 provisions rang hollow with the killings of innocents rising in the Valley.
The Congress appeared to have taken up the Jammu and Kashmir issue to corner the government, which has been stonewalling demands for a discussion in Parliament on the border situation between India and China.
“In this very House, the government had thumped its chest and made tall claims that after the removal of Article 370 they will even take control of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Aksai Chin. But today the situation is such that (Kashmiri) Pandits are leaving the Valley,” the Congress’s leader in the House, Adhir Chowdhury, said during Zero Hour.
Chowdhury said: “In this backdrop, there should be a detailed discussion in this House on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.”
The Congress leader also highlighted how innocent citizens were getting killed “mistakenly” by the security forces and demanded a statement from the government on these deaths. When he began referring to newspaper reports and reading out the names of people killed allegedly in firing by the security forces, Speaker Om Birla forbade him from speaking any further.
