Srinagar, Oct 27: A brief uproar was witnessed in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Monday after National Conference MLA from Banihal, Sajad Shaheen, demanded a one-hour discussion over the detention of Mehraj Malik under the Public Safety Act (PSA). The request, raised during the day’s proceedings, immediately drew objections from BJP legislators who questioned the basis and timing of the proposal.
Sajad Shaheen urged the Speaker to allow a special discussion, stating that the issue involved human rights and public concern. “The Assembly should devote at least one hour to debate the detention of Mehraj Malik. The matter concerns not just one individual but the larger question of justice,” Shaheen said.
The BJP benches, however, objected to the demand, arguing that the issue was sub judice and therefore not appropriate for discussion in the House. Some BJP members also accused ruling members of attempting to politicize a legal matter. “Such issues should not be brought to the floor when due process of law is already underway,” one BJP legislator was heard saying.
The exchange led to brief commotion before the Speaker intervened and assured that all members would be given an opportunity to raise matters of public importance as per the rules of procedure.
Several legislators, including those from the PDP and NC, supported Shaheen’s demand, describing Mehraj Malik’s detention as unjustified and politically motivated. The issue, they said, symbolized a larger pattern of preventive detentions being used to suppress dissenting voices in the Union Territory. [KNT]
