Three youths disrupt J&K assembly over joblessness

Srinagar  : Three youths created a ruckus against high unemployment rate in the state, for a short while interrupting the proceedings of the state legislative assembly in Srinagar Monday.

One of the men jumped into the members’ area from the visitors’ gallery, while the other two shouted slogans and waved flags from there. The three men claimed to belong to the emocratic Front.

The three youths entered the state assembly complex with an authorization from a sitting legislator to watch the proceedings of the house from the visitors’ gallery.

Speaker Muhammad Akbar Lone ordered the marshals to remove the slogan-shouting youths and initiate legal action against them for disrupting the house.

In a related development, the speaker also directed the assembly secretariat to initiate action against those who had abetted in the interruption of the assembly’s proceedings.

What this means is that the speaker’s direction would invite action against the dissident member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who had issued authorization passes to the three youths.

The three youths belonged to the Jammu region and the BJP dissident legislator who gave them visitors’ passes represents Basohli constituency in Kathua district in the 87-member assembly.

State Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said there was no security breach in this incident, as the three youths entered the assembly complex on valid passes issued by a sitting legislator.

“It is not a breach of security, the three men had come in on valid passes issued by an MLA. They were unarmed, and there was no threat to any elected representative,” the chief minister said.

Omar Abdullah, however, admitted that unemployment was an issue to be addressed, apart from law and order, as there were six lakh unemployed youths in the state.

The incident was not linked to the recent visit to Kashmir by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi along with top business tycoons, he added.