Members of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly cutting across party lines on Saturday condemned the assassination attempt on the life of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and demanded a judicial probe into the attack.
Treasury and opposition benches both unanimously termed the incident deeply disturbing and a glaring security lapse. They also demanded that the attacker be declared a terrorist.
Abdullah, a former chief minister, had a miraculous escape on March 11 when 63-year-old Kamal Singh, a resident of Purani Mandi area of Jammu, opened fire from a point-blank range while the politician was leaving a wedding function in the Greater Kailash area. The attacker was overpowered and arrested with a revolver.
Police have constituted a special investigation team (SIT) under the supervision of a deputy inspector general of Police (DIG) to probe the incident.
As the house assembled for the day, several National Conference legislators informed Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather that they had moved an adjournment motion to discuss the attack on Abdullah.
The speaker, however, ensured a peaceful conclusion of the question hour and later allowed a discussion on the incident.
“I have received a notice for an adjournment motion from several NC legislators…It should have been submitted an hour earlier, but given that the issue is of serious concern to all members of the House, I am allowing a discussion without the need for an adjournment motion,” said Rather.
BJP’s Surjit Singh Slathia said they support the discussion as Abdullah is a towering political personality.
