NEW DELHI: The first day of the autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly saw sharp exchanges between the National Conference (NC) and the BJP over the role of former governor Satya Pal Malik in the 2019 abrogation of Article 370, during obituary references to him. Malik, who passed away in August, was called “controversial” by NC MLA Bashir Veeri, prompting BJP’s Sham Lal Sharma to demand that his remarks be removed. Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather advised restraint but refused to delete Veeri’s comments. PDP MLA Rafiq Naik urged members not to speak ill of the dead. However, CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami said paying tribute should not stop members from learning lessons from a leader’s actions. Defending Malik, BJP MLA Vikram Randhawa called August 5, the day Article 370 wa

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