The Assembly’s second day proved it can legislate when it chooses to. With so few sittings left, it must choose that more often.
The second day of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly’s Autumn Session in Srinagar was a study in two instincts. One was the familiar pull of symbolism, where history is relitigated on the floor and walkouts pass for opposition. The other was the quieter business of lawmaking, which produced a meaningful bill and a resolution that touches thousands of families. Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather adjourned the House after nearly five hours. How those hours were spent tells us a great deal about where this Assembly stands.
The day opened with Anantnag West MLA Abdul Majeed Larmi demanding a holiday for Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s birth anniversary, pointing out that 23 September already honours Maharaja Hari Singh. BJP legislators objected and walked out. Within the hour, one of them was back for Question Hour, a gesture Chief Minister Omar Abdullah rightly acknowledged. The episode was brief, but it was revealing. Both sides know that historical figures stir emotion in this region, and both know that emotion is cheaper to produce than policy.
The more important story came later. Minister for Cooperatives Javid Ahmad Dar piloted the Jammu and Kashmir Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2026, through the House. The bill streamlines the cooperative framework, repeals the Self-Reliant Cooperative Act of 1999 and sets out a transitional arrangement for existing societies. Members across the aisle offered suggestions, and the bill passed by voice vote. Cooperatives matter to farmers, artisans and small traders across the Union Territory, and a cleaner legal framework can help them borrow, market and grow. This was the Assembly doing exactly what it exists to do.
School Education Minister Sakeena Itoo also moved a resolution urging the Centre to amend the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, so that teachers appointed before a set cut-off date are exempted from the Teacher Eligibility Test. For many pre-2019 appointees, this is a question of job security after years of service. The debate later this week deserves seriousness from every bench, weighing fairness to serving teachers against the standards children are owed.
None of this happens in isolation. On the opening day, the BJP stormed the well over power tariff hikes, the regularisation of daily wagers and the grievances of NHM employees. The National Conference, the Congress and their allies pressed once more for the restoration of statehood. Each of these is a legitimate concern. Power bills strain households, daily wagers have waited too long, and statehood remains the central unfinished question of Jammu and Kashmir’s political life.
That is precisely why the Assembly cannot afford to squander its time. Sittings are few, and the list of pressing issues is long. Every hour lost to slogans is an hour not spent examining tariffs, jobs, teacher shortages or the road back to statehood.
The cooperative bill showed that consensus is possible when members set aside point-scoring and engage with the text in front of them. The remaining days of this session should carry that same spirit. Voters did not send their representatives to Srinagar to walk out. They sent them to work.
