Of 5 Kashmir MPs, only one attends L-G’s swearing-in

SRINAGAR: Of the five member Parliament (MPs) of Kashmir, only one attended the oath-taking ceremony of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir’s new lieutenant governor GC Murmu on Thursday. He was sworn in by chief justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Gita Mittal in a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan here.

PDP Rajya Sabha member Nazir Ahmad Laway was the lone MP from Kashmir who attended the ceremony while two NC MPs and another Rajya Sabha member from PDP stayed away.

“I received an invitation and attended the function. It was a brief function in which new Lt Governor took the oath of office,’’ said Laway. “I saw the BJP MP from Jammu, Jughal Kishore, but not any other MP,” he added.

NC chief Farooq Abdullah, who is the sitting MP from Srinagar, was arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and has been detained at his Gupkar residence.

Fayaz Mir, Rajya Sabha MP of PDP, said somebody had dropped an invitation card at his official residence in Srinagar on Wednesday.

“I wasn’t present in Kashmir. It’s unfortunate at a time when Union territories are being converted into states. Here a fullfledged state was downgraded into two UTs,” he said.

“For over a year, J&K was under the Centre’s rule. Why didn’t they (the Centre) bring development in the state. The last time also they had ruled this place,” he said.

NC MP from Baramulla, Akbar Lone said he had received an invite from the government but he declined. “I along with other NC MP, Hasnain Masoodi, was in Srinagar. Attending the ceremony would have been our endorsement to the bifurcation of the state. Our party is against the abrogation of Article 370 and the way J&K has been treated by the BJP government,” he said.

Opposition Congress claimed their leaders were not even invited for the function.

“They didn’t invite us because the entire exercise is being done undemocratically,” Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Ghulam Ahmad Mir said.