Srinagar:
There was complete chaos in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly this morning. Members of the BJP and the Panthers Party stormed the well of the House, shouting that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is anti-national, irresponsible, and "a flop chief minister." They say they are incensed by Abdullah's speech on Wednesday.
Two BJP MLAs and a policeman were injured in the chaos.
The tipping point provided by these remarks of the Chief Minister made yesterday on the Kashmir crisis. "Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. It feels nice to say so and we must also believe the fact. But if we believe J&K is an integral part of India, why do we have to always shout from the rooftops that it's true? Do you ever shout that Tamil Nadu is an integral part of India?"
In an apparent reference to the saffron party's stand that there was no dispute to be resolved with regard to Jammu and Kashmir, Omar had said if that would have been the case, there would have been no need for the Simla agreement, Lahore declaration and talks in Agra and Delhi.
Omar had also said that "Kashmir was an outstanding issue which needs to be resolved. It is a political issue and cannot be addressed through development, employment or good governance only".
"We condemn the highly irresponsible statement emmananting from no less than the Chief Minister of the state who has called the state as disputed state," said Harshdev Singh of the Panthers Party.
The BJP equated Omar's remarks with that of separatists'.
In Delhi, Omar's ally, the Congress expressed its support for him, backing him on another statement he made yesterday targeting the Centre for overriding his authority - he said his is not a puppet government. "What should he say? Should he say he is a puppet? After all he is an elected Chief Minister of a state," said Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh.