Srinagar:
It was a noisy morning for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. It was scheduled to debate and vote today on a controversial resolution that demands clemency for Afzal Guru, who has been awarded the death sentence for his role in the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, but the vote had to be put off as members forced repeated adjournments.
The chaos was caused by BJP MLAs protesting against the resolution and the Congress protesting over a completely different issue - demanding the expulsion of BJP MLAs accused of cross-voting during the winter session.
The People's Democratic Party (PDP), the main Opposition party has accused the Omar Abdullah government of scuttling the debate and vote. Mr Abdullah said, "The J&K Assembly today became the victim of national politics."
(J&K Assembly victim of national politics: Omar)How parties would vote on this issue would make major political statements and they would indeed need to balance local sentiment with national outlook.
The BJP, therefore, which stresses its zero-tolerance for terror policy, has objected to the resolution.
The Congress had not issued a whip; it said it would decide when the resolution was introduced in the Assembly. But senior Congressman and minister in the state government Taj Mohiudin said the party's MLAs had been asked to vote "according to their conscience." The Congress has been accused at the centre, mainly by the BJP, of being soft on terror. So voting in favour of the resolution would lead to a contretemps.
The ruling National Conference, headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, took the same route as its ally - asking its members to vote "according to their conscience."
Mehbooba Mufti's PDP backs the resolution and so her anger at the debate and vote being put off.
The challenge the resolution poses could be why the Assembly was repeatedly adjourned this morning - analysts read this as a possible attempt by different parties to defer the vote.
The resolution in favour of Afzal Guru has been inspired by recent events in Tamil Nadu. There, the Assembly passed a unanimous resolution asking that the death sentence be commuted for three men who were scheduled to be executed this month for assassinating former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Their case is now being reviewed by the Madras High Court.
In J&K, the resolution on Afzal Guru has been introduced by independent MLA Engineer Rashid. He says that although he condemns the attack on Parliament, any decision to hang Afzal Guru will have serious repercussions on the situation in Kashmir.
"I have full faith in the judicial system of the country. I have full faith in the Supreme Court, I have faith in our Constitution and the system but we have to see consequences of such decisions. For God's sake, please see other dimensions if Afzal is hanged," the Independent MLA said.
Afzal Guru, or Mohammad Afzal, was convicted for plotting an attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001. Five terrorists had attacked Parliament House in the Winter Session, killing seven security personnel, before being shot dead. Afzal was found guilty and sentenced to death by a sessions court in 2002.
The verdict was upheld by the Delhi High Court on October 29, 2003 and then by the Supreme Court on August 4, 2005. Subsequently, the sessions court set October 20, 2006 as the date for hanging Afzal Guru. But his wife Tabassum Guru then filed a mercy petition.