Click to play videoPDP leader Mehbooba Mufti on Monday lost her cool and her manners. She attacked the Speaker's seat and yanked off his mike, even as the debate over the Shopian murders boiled over in Kashmir's Assembly. Is unruliness in the Assembly the right way to protest? To answer the question on CNN-IBN was Mehbooba Mufti herself and she said that she has no regrets.
CNN-IBN: When those pictures have been playing through the day, the feeling is Mehbooba Mufti has transgressed the boundaries of decent Assembly behaviour. What is your response? Do you have any regrets about what you did on Monday?
Mehbooba Mufti: Well, let me place it on record that the behaviour of the Speaker - right from the beginning when he rejected 72 of our resolutions, concerning the people of the state which we discussed in the Round Table conference with the Prime Minister - has been not right. The Speaker had no right to reject them arbitrarily. On Monday too when the obituary was taking place, even before it started he gave time to BJP MLAs to put forward their issues as well as the National Conference. We were in the Well of the House for just two minutes when he ordered the marshals to throw us out.
CNN-IBN: Sorry to interrupt, but there is a shot of you throwing the mike.
Mehbooba Mufti: Please let me speak. I am really amazed and amused to see 'Mehbooba Mufti attacked the Speaker'. If I really attacked him, then I would have thrown the mike at him not at the floor. He would have been in the hospital and maybe we would be having another obituary tomorrow then.
CNN-IBN: Those are really fighting words. What you have done is instead of drawing attention to your cause, to the fact that the Opposition has not been allowed to speak on Shopian, you have drawn attention to your behaviour in the Assembly. Do you think you could have done better?
Mehbooba Mufti: How could I? They are trying to gag the Opposition and they are doing it selectively. They have rejected our resolutions. This Assembly has been elected with more than 60 per cent voter turnout and if we don't debate and discuss our issues here, where do we go? On the streets pelting stones? Unfortunately National Conference has been trying to convert thi Assembly into a municipal corporation where they can discuss water and electricity problems. I am not against that but we have to discuss political issues as well. They don't have tolerance and this is not the first time that they are doing this. They have done this before as well. And the National Conference Chief Minister was just watching. He could have got up and told the Speaker that 'if you have allowed BJP and National Conference to speak, allow PDP to speak as well'. He didn't do that and this shows they had already decided to gag PDP. You cannot do this.
CNN-IBN: You have a point to make that you want to raise the Shopian issue. But there are Parliamentary and Assembly procedures. None of these procedures allow you to wrench a mike, throw it away and storm into the Well of the House. You are not a back-bencher. You are the face of a major political party.
Mehbooba Mufti: Do you know what language the Speaker was using, what he was saying? That is why I wanted to pull away the mike so that he would stop shouting. He was saying, 'iss lady ko bahar nikalo' (throw this lady out of here). Do you use such words? And the Chief Minister was just listening. How can one use such unparliamentary language? Don't you think the Speaker has a duty? Shouldn't he be impartial and give the Opposition enough time? After all I am the leader of the largest Opposition in the state. Do you treat us like this? We had followed all resolutions where our resolutions were concerned, but they have unilaterally rejected them all including revocation of special powers, withdrawal of security forces, stipend for educated youth, cross-LoC trade, election of a governor. All of these will take forward Centre-state relations. We want the Assembly to discuss issues which can bring peace to the state, but they don't let us. They want the Assembly to function like a municipal corporation but we will not allow it.
CNN-IBN: Things seem to have reached a breaking point between you and the Speaker. Do you think you are going to be able to go back in the Assembly and face him right now?
Mehbooba Mufti: Why not? It's for them to think how they are going to face us. He is not acting as a Speaker. He is acting more like an official of the National Conference. Someone should ask him why he rejected all our resolutions and did not allow us to speak when he let BJP speak.
CNN-IBN: Your point is well taken. In many states, the Opposition parties could say the same thing. But why resort to wrenching out a mike, walking into the Well of the House and throwing it? What is the message that you are trying to send here?
Mehbooba Mufti: Because he was shouting.
CNN-IBN: Did he abuse you?
Mehbooba Mufti: I am not an intruder. I am a member of the honourable House. I have been elected by the people. When the elections took place, people had very high hopes of the government and we know what happened to those. Now they have very high hopes of the PDP picking up their issues and raising them in the House.
CNN-IBN: You can fight your battles on the streets, stage a dharna, do whatever you want but why get violent in the House?
Mehbooba Mufti: I hope you haven't forgotten that there are times when you act according to the situation. Today we pay high tributes to our heroes who threw bombs in assemblies before Independence, because that was the need of the hour and what I did on Monday was the need of the hour. If we want to discuss political issues in the Assembly, then we have to get back to them. We can't let them treat the House as a municipal committee.
CNN-IBN: No regrets then?
Mehbooba Mufti: You should ask the Speaker whether he has any regrets about being so partial.
CNN-IBN: We appreciate your joining us and giving us your side of the story.
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