Srinagar:
In a major security breach, an unemployed man jumped from the visitors' gallery into the Well of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly this morning, while two associates raised slogans and waved flags from the press gallery to highlight the problem of unemployment.
The three young men, all from Jammu, were dragged roughly out by the Marshalls; one was seen being marched out with his shirt ripped off. The Speaker has asked for an investigation to find out how they got passes to enter the heavily guarded Assembly in a terror-torn state.
But Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has played down the incident, saying the men were not armed and seemed to have no motive to harm elected representatives. They also had entered on valid passes, he said, so the incident could not be called a breach of security. The Chief Minister said the men, who belong to a BJP-affiliated outfit called the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Front, had been brought to the Assembly in the car of an MLA.
The passes, using which the youth entered the Assembly, were issued on the instructions of MLA Jagdish Sapolia, who belongs to Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Front. Mr Sapolia said that it was a breach of trust by these three people. "I never knew about their designs, I issued passes in good faith. I will apologise if Speaker asks me to do so," he said.
There were protests outside the Assembly too. The police lathicharged daily wage employees who were demanding regularisation.
Mr Abdullah admitted unemployment was a big problem in his state.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had visited the state last week with India's top industrial and corporate leaders, including Ratan Tata, Kumarmangalam Birla, Deepak Parekh and Rajiv Bajav. On a previous visit, Mr Gandhi had promised students that he would bring industry leaders to Jammu and Kashmir after they complained to him about lack of jobs and investments in the state.
Speaking at a meeting with Mr Gandhi by his side, Mr Tata said, "It has been a real step forward to have a conversation with the great wealth of human capital that exists here. What Mr Gandhi has done is not open a window, but open a door."