Srinagar, Oct 31: The Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Friday witnessed protests from legislators of the ruling National Conference (NC) against a news portal for circulating a video showing an MLA scrolling through social media during the House proceedings.
As soon as Question Hour began, MLA from Karnah Javid Mirchal demanded strict action against the portal, accusing it of defaming him.
“When I was asking a question about doctors, I opened Facebook for a few seconds. A video of that moment was captured and circulated on social media,” Mirchal said.
Mirchal added that he couldn’t sleep the entire night due to the online harassment he faced. “Action should be taken against these paid agents,” he demanded.
Intervening in the matter, NC’s Nazir Gurezi claimed that Mirchal was actually viewing business documents sent by the Assembly Secretariat. “His constituents are accusing him of wasting time in the Assembly on social media instead of raising issues concerning his constituency,” Gurezi said, adding that the party is moving a privilege motion against the portal in question.
Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather assured the protesting lawmakers that appropriate action would be taken.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary also called for strict action against social media pages that circulated reels featuring a conversation between him and Education Minister Sakina Ittoo.
“Sakina Ittoo was sitting with me. We were discussing something. They captured a clip and made reels. This is an insult. We are respectable people. She tied a Rakhi on my wrist. Had she not been my sister, it wouldn’t have been appropriate. They made vulgar reels,” the Deputy CM said.
He said that the media, as the fourth pillar of democracy, should act responsibly.
“A strict warning should be issued, and those involved in making such reels should be debarred from covering the proceedings of the House,” he said, adding that their social media accounts should be taken down—(KNO)
