Jammu, February 19 The Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has admitted a private member's resolution moved by PDP MLA Waheed-Ur-Rehman Parra, strongly condemning hate crimes against minorities and calling for strict enforcement of the law.
The PDP legislator from Pulwama moved the resolution amid growing incidents of targeted attacks and harassment of Kashmiri students and traders in different parts of the country.
According to an official communication issued by the Assembly Secretariat, the resolution has been admitted under Rule 179 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the J-K Legislative Assembly.
The resolution “strongly condemns all forms of hate crimes against minorities and calls upon the government of India and state governments to take immediate and effective measures to prevent, investigate and prosecute such offences with strict enforcement of the law”.
In recent weeks, incidents involving alleged attacks and intimidation of Kashmiri students and traders in various states have drawn political attention and concern, prompting calls from several quarters for stronger safeguards and accountability mechanisms.
In a related development, Congress MLAs Irfan Lone and Iftikhar Ahmed on Thursday protested against the alleged harassment of Kashmiris outside Jammu and Kashmir, demanding an immediate stop to such incidents.
Lone, carrying a pamphlet reading "Stop harassment of Kashmiris", and Ahmed held the protest on the stairs of the Assembly, joined by party MLAs from Rajouri.
Referring to the alleged harassment of Kashmiri nursing students at a university in Rajasthan, the two MLAs said they would raise the issue in the House.
They alleged that the students were assaulted during a protest over course recognition which left four of them injured. A female student was also manhandled, they claimed.
Lone and Ahmed also sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to stop such harassments.