Watch | Independent MLA assaulted in J&K Assembly for hosting beef party

Shocking footage from Jammu and Kashmir assembly shows BJP MLAs thrashing Independent MLA for allegedly holding a 'beef party' to oppose restrictions on cow slaughter. Rashid had just walked into the House when the BJP members started to manhandle him before the proceedings began. Sources said Rashid, the chief of the Awami Ittehad Party, could have been severely injured if opposition members had not pulled him away from the BJP legislators. Chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah condemned the attack on Rashid. The BJP is part of the state's ruling coalition led by the People's Democratic Party (PDP). According to reports, Rashid hosted the beef party in the MLAs hostel in Srinagar on Wednesday, saying the move was aimed at giving legislators a “clear message that it hardly makes any difference whether you accept or reject the bill...religious matters cannot be kept subservient to courts and assembly”.