MLA demands minister’s resignation
An independent MLA and his supporters on Tuesday staged a protest here demanding resignation of Jammu and Kashmir minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed who is embroiled in a controversy relating to his son allegedly using unfair means to pass the Board examination in 2009. A students’ group also made the same demand.
The demonstration by MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid and his scores of supporters came a day after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ordered a probe by the Crime Branch of the state police into the allegation.
The education minister should resign immediately on moral grounds, Rashid told reporters at the protest venue.
“If he is not involved in any wrongdoing, he can join the Cabinet again,” the MLA said. Criticising the chief minister, the legislator said he should have “thrown him out” before ordering a probe. “How can one expect a fair probe when he is still in office,” he said.
A group of students under the banner of Islamic Students Federation assembled at the Press Enclave and shouted slogans against the minister minutes before the demonstration. “The minister should be sacked and jailed,” the students shouted and threatened to intensify their agitation if “stern action” was not taken against Sayeed and his son.
A leading English daily on Monday reported that Sayeed’s son had resorted to use of “unfair means” in connivance with Board of School Education officials during the conduct of the Senior Secondary Examination for class 10 in 2009. The minister denied the news report and said he had already submitted the case file to the chief minister and explained the matter to him.
He also welcomed the decision of the chief minister to refer the case to the Crime Branch.
“Any further action will be determined by the findings of the Crime Branch,” the chief minister had said.
