New Delhi/Guwahati
Parliament could not function for the third day of the Monsoon Session on Monday as the Opposition stuck to its demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on Manipur while the ruling BJP said it was all for a debate and accused its opponents of running away it by disrupting proceedings.
The face-off between the two sides intensified further after Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar suspended AAP MP Sanjay Singh for the remainder of the Monsoon Session for jumping into the well of the House and raising slogans, and refusing to go back despite being warned by the Chair. Leader of the House Piyush Goyal moved a motion to suspend him, which was adopted by the House by voice vote.
Later, the floor leaders of the opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha also walked out of the meeting called by the Chairman to discuss Singh’s suspension. They walked out after the Chairman objected to AAP’s Raghav Chadha and TMC’s Santanu Sen attending the meeting despite not being the floor leaders of their respective parties.
The Opposition parties then went on to stage a sit-in the Parliament complex against the suspension of the AAP MP and demanding its revocation besides also to press for the Prime Minister’s statement on the Manipur issue
Earlier, the Government sought to break the stalemate by engaging Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is also Deputy Leader of Lok Sabha, to speak to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC’s Sudip Bandyopadhyay and DMK’s T R Baalu.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Government is ready for a discussion on Manipur and requested the Opposition to let a discussion take place on the issue. “It is important that the country gets to know the truth on this sensitive matter,” Shah said in the Lok Sabha.
Both Houses of Parliament witnessed protests and adjournments as the Opposition parties raised slogans and carried placards demanding a statement by the Prime Minister on the violence in Manipur.
While the government has said it is ready for a debate and that Home Minister Shah will speak on the issue, the Opposition has demanded that a statement be made by the Prime Minister.
The session commenced a day after a video clip purportedly shot on May 4 and showing two women being paraded naked by a mob in a Manipur village went viral, triggering a nationwide outrage. The Manipur Police has arrested several accused who were seen in the video. The police said a case of abduction, gang rape and murder has been registered at the Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district against unidentified armed miscreants.
A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking constitution of an independent committee under a retired apex court judge to inquire into the incidents of sexual assault and violence in Manipur.
MEANWHILE
Violence continued in Manipur with at least 10 abandoned houses and one school — Children Treasure High School — being burnt by an armed mob, led by hundreds of women acting as human shields, at Torbung Bazaar area in Churachandpur district bordering Bishnupur district. The mob even fired several rounds and hurled locally made bombs during the attack that happened on Saturday. “We hesitated to return fire when we saw the attackers approaching as the mob was led by hundreds of women. However, after we saw them trying to snatch a vehicle of the BSF and start burning our houses, we realised the need for retaliation,” a local, who did not want to be named, was quoted by a news agency. The mob later also tried to take away a Casper vehicle of the BSF but the attempt was foiled by retaliatory fire from the force and the local volunteers deployed at the area.
