Jammu, Feb 05: Peoples Conference (PC) chief Sajad Lone on Thursday accused the National Conference (NC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of forming a de facto “joint bloc” in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, alleging they collaborated to vote down key amendments on Kashmiri welfare and employment rights moved by his party to the Governor’s Address.
Speaking to Kashmir Convener on the side-lines of the Budget session in Jammu, the MLA from Handwara detailed four proposals he said were rejected by an alliance of the two ideologically divergent parties, framing the development as a historic and defining political realignment against regional aspirations.
“This is now part of history,” Lone said, listing the amendments that were voted down.
The first, and most politically charged, proposal sought a mention in the address about “attacks on Kashmiris outside J&K and the inaction by various states.” “The National Conference and the BJP voted against this,” Lone stated, adding, “They have refused to even acknowledge the harassment and killings of Kashmiris outside. When an institution does not take note, who will deliver justice?”
The second amendment pertained to the “regularisation of daily wagers, HDF, NREGA employees, drivers, and players,” a long-pending demand of a significant section of the workforce in the Union Territory.
Lone said the third proposal demanded a concrete roadmap for creating “one lakh jobs for youth” and age relaxation in recruitments, while the fourth sought the establishment of a “National Law University in Kashmir.”
“On all these issues concerning our people, our brothers in NC and the BJP voted together,” he alleged.
MLA Sajad Lone citing a “32 per cent deficit” in Kashmir’s share of government jobs relative to its population. He claimed recent recruitment policies would not correct this imbalance. “The mismatch remains. It was all dialogue, no concrete action,” he said.
Earlier in the assembly, in a hard-hitting speech during the discussion on the Lieutenant Governor’s address, Lone called the government document “an unemotional, bureaucratic script” that ignores public suffering and the “historical disempowerment” of Kashmir.
“There is no mention of Article 370’s abrogation, no mention of statehood, no mention of the thousands detained. Are we living in a fairy tale?” Lone asked, criticising what he called the “silencing of dissent” within the Assembly.
In a direct challenge to the National Conference’s political narrative, Lone listed its past alliances with the Centre — from the 1975 accord, the 1987 elections, Omar Abdullah serving as a minister in the BJP-led NDA government in 1999, to the 2008 coalition with Congress.
“You can’t claim victimhood after being in power with the Centre for decades. Who brought laws like PSA and POTA? Ninety per cent of those cases were in Kashmir,” Lone said.
He also questioned the “selective constitutional morality” of the House, pointing out that while Puducherry passed statehood resolutions multiple times, J&K hasn’t done so even once.
“The message is clear: stay silent. But if we can’t speak here, where do we speak? On the stairs outside?” he asked.
Lone warned that the reservation issue could become the biggest flashpoint in J&K’s recent history, with consequences graver than the disputed 1987 elections. He referred to cases against separatists-turned-mainstream leaders to argue that “persecution fuels alienation.”
“Thousands are in limbo — facing PSAs, uncertain trials. This is a dangerous legacy,” he said.
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