Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Waheed ur Rehman Parra on Tuesday urged the Legislative Assembly to make a unanimous call against the alleged ‘misuse of the Public Safety Act (PSA) in Jammu and Kashmir’.
Parra’s remarks came after Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather cautioned him for allegedly stating that without the Speaker’s consent, PSA would not have been slapped on MLA Doda Mehraj Malik. Reacting to the Speaker’s warning, Parra said legislators were kept unaware of the detailed business rules.
“If the Speaker says his consent was not needed as per rules, then why have the rules not been provided to us so far?” Parra questioned.
Speaking to Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS), Parra said that the Speaker was the custodian of the House and should safeguard democratic practices. “A unanimous call should be made by the Assembly to condemn the slapping of PSA on Mehraj Malik and the overall misuse of PSA in Jammu and Kashmir,” he demanded.
He further clarified that while the PDP did not endorse the alleged unparliamentary remarks made by Malik, booking an elected representative under such a stringent law was unjustified.
“The PSA has often been used to stifle political voices. We may not agree with Mehraj Malik’s choice of words, but silencing him through this law is not acceptable in a democratic setup,” Parra said.
The booking of MLA Mehraj Malik under PSA has triggered strong political reactions across J&K, with several parties terming it an undemocratic move. (KINS) Arshad Farooq
