Manipur rocks Parliament for 2nd day; Congress urges President to dismiss state government

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, July 21

Video evidence of brazen mob violence against two Manipur women stalled Parliament for the second straight day with the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha adjourned amid constant sloganeering without transaction of business.

At the heart of the stalemate were rules under which to debate violence in the northeastern state, which has been on the edge since May 3 following a court ruling recommending the ST status for the majority Meiteis, a move that sparked protests among tribal locals.

The Opposition wants discussions under provisions that allow suspension of all business to discuss an urgent issue at the day’s start, followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply. The government is agreeable to debating under rules where the presiding officer slots a discussion at any time. Also, the government says Union Home Minister Amit Shah will reply to the discussion. Disagreement over rules had the Opposition and the government blaming one another for stalling a crucial debate, even as protests continued in Manipur following the shocking visuals of two women being groped by a mob. Both Houses witnessed frenzied sloganeering by opposition MPs with “INDIA” placards appearing in the wells. In Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, deputy leader of the House, said the government wanted a debate on Manipur to be held in all seriousness but the opposition was disinterested.

“We want a discussion on Manipur... I want to say the Opposition is not serious, as it should be, for a discussion on Manipur,” he said moments before LS Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House after MPs protesting in the well declined his pleas to return to seats.

Rajya Sabha saw similar scenes, with Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourning the House for the day.

The ruckus is expected to continue on Monday with the Opposition scheduling a protest at Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament house complex. The Congress upped the ante today, urging President Droupadi Murmu to dismiss the state government.

Party’s deputy leader in RS Pramod Tiwari said the Opposition wanted a debate “without time restrictions but the government is offering a short duration discussion”. Outside Parliament, the BJP condemned Manipur incident but cited violent crimes against women in TMC-ruled West Bengal and Congress-ruled Rajasthan to ask if crime videos needed to go viral for the people to be outraged.

BJP’s Hooghly MP Locket Chatterjee broke down recalling a woman being paraded naked in South Panchla for contesting the recent panchayat elections in the state.

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and BJP general secretary (Rajasthan) Arun Singh listed crimes against women in the state. “Rajasthan is a failed state. There has been a tsunami of crimes against women in four years. There is no safe space left. There have been a million criminal cases in four years of Congress rule,” Jodhpur MP Shekhawat said, mentioning a recent brutal gang-rape and murder of a Scheduled Caste girl in Karauli.

As BJP flagged “Manipur-like situation in opposition-ruled states,” BSP chief Mayawati said a “discussion should be held in Parliament on the sensitive Manipur matter and political blame game should stop”.

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