Srinagar:
The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was adjourned indefinitely for a second day in a row today after the Opposition refused to let the House function. Opposition parties wanted to debate the death of Syed Mohammed Yousuf Shah, who was handed to the Crime Branch by Mr Abdullah on Thursday last week. A day later Mr Shah died while in custody. He was an activist from the National Conference, which is the Chief Minister's party.
The Speaker of the House, Mohammad Akbar Lone, rejected the adjournment motion of the PDP that was brought again today for the second time; he had rejected a similar motion yesterday on the ground that a judicial probe has already been ordered in this matter. The Assembly's current session ends today.
Mr Abdullah has said that he will not respond to allegations that Mr Shah was tortured at his home on Thursday last week. Mr Shah was summoned by the Chief Minister along with two other National Conference members who accused the activist of promising them key positions in the government in exchange for huge bribes.
Mr Abdullah has said he believes he did his duty by asking the Crime Branch to take Mr Shah into custody. He has also offered to appear before a judicial commission that will investigate Mr Shah's death.
The main Opposition party - the People's Democratic Party or PDP led by Mehbooba Mufti - dismisses that offer. Ms Mufti has accused the Chief Minister of acting as "judge and jury." She also says that it's unnatural for the government to not permit a debate on the matter in the Assembly. "National Conference is very famous for fudging the DNA samples, they can fudge anything. So I don't believe them and the judicial enquiry won't be impartial," she said.
A post-mortem report yesterday said that Mr Shah died of a heart attack and that there were no visible external injuries on his body - news that has not helped improve the politically-charged atmosphere that has loomed in the Assembly since yesterday, when a member of the PDP flung a fan on the ground in anger.