The call for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in Parliament over the video of two women being paraded naked and the ensuing gang-rape in Manipur grew louder on Monday. The logjam continued with no business for the third consecutive day, with repeated adjournments in both the Houses.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh was suspended by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar for the entire monsoon session after he came near his podium to raise slogans demanding a discussion on the issue. Dhankhar also had an angry exchange with TMC leader Derek O’Brien when the latter opposed non-mention of party affiliations detailing the MP notices for discussion.
The Opposition alliance INDIA held an all-night agitation on the Parliament premises, with leaders taking turns sitting near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue. They said the protest will continue today (Tuesday) | ANI
Protests continue
In protest, the Opposition alliance INDIA held an all-night agitation on the Parliament premises, with leaders taking turns sitting near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue. They said the protest will continue today (Tuesday). The last all-night relay protest was in July 2022 by 20 suspended Rajya Sabha members.
The TMC said, “The decision blatantly subverts the very essence of democracy, laying bare the fact that the BJP-led Central government is shamelessly employing every conceivable tactic to avoid any meaningful discussion on the Manipur issue.”
After the Lok Sabha was adjourned thrice, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Opposition of blocking the discussion and said that the government is open to a debate and that it’s important for the truth in the Manipur issue to come out.
Opposition wants long discussion under Rule 267; Govt wants "short duration"
While the Opposition wants the sensitive matter to be discussed under Rule 267 wherein all business in the House is suspended and later it may lead to voting, the government wants a “short duration discussion” under Rule 176, and also wants to discuss atrocities against women Opposition-ruled states of Rajasthan and West Bengal.
While the Opposition wants the sensitive matter to be discussed under Rule 267 wherein all business in the House is suspended and later it may lead to voting, the government wants a “short duration discussion” under Rule 176. | ANI
Rajya Sabha opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge insisted on a comprehensive statement by the PM in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the Parliament House complex, even as the government said that he has already expressed his “anguish” over the incident. Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “The heavens will not fall if the PM comes to the House for a discussion on Manipur… Discussion on this matter is taking place across the world, from Europe to the US to elsewhere. This is not a matter of the Home Ministry alone but that of the entire country… This is a humble demand.”
Rejecting the demand, Speaker Om Birla said the matter is to be responded to by the minister concerned, who happens to be the Home Minister in the instant case.
