The Lok Sabha was plunged into turmoil on Monday after the Bharatiya Janata Party attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his references to 'self-rule and autonomy' for Jammu and Kashmir.
Raising the issue during Question Hour, BJP Deputy Leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra asserted that Jammu and Kashmir remained an integral part of the country and both Houses of Parliament had unanimously passed a resolution to this effect.
He took objections to prime minister's remarks saying that they had come ahead of US President George Bush's visit to the country. "Any talk about independence of Kashmir went against national interest," Malhotra said, amid vehement protest from Mehbooba Mufti of the People's Democratic Party and Congress members.
BJP members, raising slogans that Kashmir was an inseparable part of India, trooped into the well of the House. In the din, the deputy speaker adjourned the House till 1pm.
The prime minister, while addressing a round-table conference on Jammu and Kashmir, said there was need to evolve a common understanding on the issue of autonomy and self-rule for the state.
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