Opposition members walk out of J&K assembly

Opposition members walked out of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Tuesday following an uproar over tensions between two communities in Kathua district.

As the question hour neared its end, independent MLA Engineer Rashid stood up and raised his voice over what he said was the alleged government failure to ease the tensions. Clash occurred in Kathua on Monday.

Speaker Kavinder Gupta tried to restore order but the MLA was soon joined by others from the National Conference including former ministers Ali Muhammad Sagar and Mian Altaf Ahmed.

Altaf said it was not for the first time that tensions had resulted in clashes between the communities.

He accused the Speaker of trying to silence Rashid who he said was raising pertinent issues.

Heated arguments erupted between minister Abdul Rehman Veeri and Sagar.

The opposition finally walked out of the house shouting slogans against the Speaker, calling him a "RSS Speaker".

--IANS

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