A view of the Lok Sabha in Parliament during the ongoing session in New Delhi on Monday. (Source: PTI)
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad raised the issue of lynching in the Parliament on Wednesday. Listing the lynching incidents, Azad said the government may have given its backing to the miscreants. “Instances of lynching took place earlier as well. But nowadays, members of the ruling party or sangh parivaar are involved in these lynchings,” Azad alleged. Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi responded to Azad saying the miscreants may not necessarily be gau rakshaks.
Taking up the issue of border disputes with China, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said India was responsible for protecting Bhutan and Sikkim. He also said China is a bigger threat to India than Pakistan. The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm.
A discussion on the recent lynchings and attacks on Dalits is underway in the Rajya Sabha, a day after BSP chief Mayawati resigned in protest against deputy chairman P J Kurien for asking her to cut short her speech on the alleged atrocities against Dalits. However, her three-page resignation letter will not be accepted as she did not follow House procedure. With her term coming to an end next April, the BSP chief is unlikely to get re-elected to the Rajya Sabha as her party doesn’t have the required numbers to back her nomination.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha was briefly adjourned after the Opposition created a ruckus during a discussion on the agrarian crisis. The Opposition has identified six issues to target the government with — lynchings, the standoff with China, farmer suicides, terror attack on Amarnath yatris, use of CBI and ED to “target” Opposition leaders and the effects of GST and demonetisation.
Parliament monsoon session: All that happened
8:45 pm: Lok Sabha passed the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Bill.
6:10 pm: Upper House has been adjourned till July, 20
5: 51 pm: Humanity has been taken away from India. Inida should realise beef is a very sensitive issue in Inida. The question is how we should deal with such fragile issues and also stop vigalantism in our country, said Swapan Dasgupta.
5: 48 pm: Lynching is no less than terrorism, it’s not an ordinary murder case but it’s purposely done to create religious disharmony and the rulling party should not ignore these kind of acts, said Majid Memon.
5:45 pm: This is an irony that cow is considered a symbol of peace and now that has been related to terrorism, said Congree leader Majid Memon. He also stressed on article 21 and said we have the right to survive. Nothing is valuable if we don’t have the right to live with a sense of security and peace and if the government fails to protect this rights of the people then the right is violated. It’s a threat on Inidia’s integrity.
5: 30 pm: Deputy Chairman PJ Kurian clearing the Mayawati issue said, “I have lot of respect for her. On Tuesday, it was a procedurial matter. I was not taking a 267 (suspension rule). It was a communication gap.”
5: 20 pm: BSP leader Satish Mishra questioned why Mayawati was stopped from making her speech on atrocities against Dalits on Tuesday. The Centre’s mentality related to Dalits is not hidden, he said. “The entire house was instructed to stand up and create a ruckus when Mayawati started speaking and she was forced to stop her speech.”
5:10 pm: Dilip Kumar, BJD leader from Orrisa says Gau Rakshaks have created fear among us by killing Muslims and Dalits.
5:05 pm: Speaking about Tamil Nadu governmnet, Vigila says, “In Tamil Nadu are adorning the highest position, Muslims are highest on education ratings. Tamil Nadu governmnet takes initiative to protect the minority.”
5:00 pm: “There should be a special human disaster task force for such cruel lynchings and violence that happens across the country. There should be immediate solutions should be implented to curb the menace. These occurances should stop,”adds Vigila.
4:58 pm: AIADMK party leader Vijila Satyananth talked about the critical issues on dalit and underpriviledged. “India is the highest trader of beef, we heard that but it all depends on the people, it is because of poverty. Beef is cheap, vigilant groups cannot take laws in their hands and kill people for their choices, ” said Vigila.
4:50 pm: The government is manipulating the EPW figures. We are being terrorised everyway whether it’s financially or economically. The BJP ministers say something on one hand and the PM differs the BJP statement. There is no communal harmony, says Derek O’brien.
4: 45 pm: “We have been discussing the marginalised but what is even more scary is that even people who are not marginalised are being attacked. Journalists are bein attacked and this a lynching of a different kind. We not bow down to the government’s political vendetta, ” speaks Derek O’brien.
4:42 pm: “The narrative today is marginalised, those who are under serviced are being killed and lynched. Talking about terrorism of children, he said 70 per cent of those who don’t have Aadhar cards are children below 12, these are the narratives and we all know what are the problems if we don’t have an Aadhar card.”
4:39 pm: Derek O’brien says empty words won’t work, generalisation won’t work until we name the groups and said, “The PM on 29th June said, killing people in the name of religion is not acceptable and a few hours later we know what happened in Jharkhand.”
4:32 pm: “If you don’t consider our opinions atleast take the opinions of the G20 summit, the USA, the internaltional media and stop moving towards a Hindutva Nation. These groups must be legally banned and we should all cooperate and bring an end to this,” said Sitaram Yechury.
4:31 pm: Yechury says, international media has recognised of what is happening to India today and the government should act upon the protection of Nation.
4:27 pm: ” Nationalism is only equated as Hindu nationalism, this not Bharat Mata. When we say Bharat mata ki jay we include every religion. Do not distinguish on patriotic slogans,” he says.
4:20pm: He talks about private army that is roaming around and taking laws into their own hands. This should be banned by the central government. Vigilantic groups should be immediately banned by the government. One State government cannot do that, says Yechury.
4:15 pm: Sitaram Yechury speakes in the background of what happened in the house and said where has our republic come to? Equality is being questioned through instances of lynching. He took examples of Akhlaq lynching, Una lynching, Alwar lynching, Junaid lynching.
4:12 pm: Today a message should reach the PM that there should be strong prohibatory laws on lynching and that it will not be tolerated anywhere in India, expressed Naresh Aggarwal.
4: 10 pm: The government in Uttar Pradesh is becoming like Saudi Arabia by bringing in anti-romeo rule and creating violence over women attire, said Naresh Aggarwal
4:08 pm: When we go for religious prayers, the priest asks for cow donation. Lynching is very dangerous but its effect has destroyed the trade done by farmers who used to sell unproductive cows and earn their livings, said Naresh Aggarwal.
4:02 pm: Naresh aggarwal said in defence that he didn’t mean to hurt any sentiments but if at all if he did, he expressed regret.
3:34 pm: House adjourned till 4 pm
3:25 pm: Sitaram Yechury urges to continue the session as Naresh Aggarwal has withdrawn his statement and it was condemned by the deputy chairman as well.
3: 10 pm: Naresh aggarwal withdraws his statement.
3:08 pm: Statements made by Naresh Aggarwal hurt the sentiments of Hindu community and was derogatory, said Deputy Chairman.
3:07 pm: House adjouned for next 10 minutes following ruckus over Naresh’s statement.
3:05 pm: Deputy Chairman has called for the records of what Naresh has said.
3:00 pm: Arun Jaitley says Naresh Aggarwal linked the name of Hindu Gods to alcohol brands and nobody has realised the gravity of what he has said. He also added that he could be liable to prosecution had he said it outside the house.
2.52 pm: “Iss cheez ko sampradayikta ka rang na dein. Kya apraadhi ne board laga rakha hai khud pe ke main gau rakshak hoon? (Don’t polarise these (lynching) incidents. Do the miscreants carry a board signifying that they are gau rakshaks?),” asks Naqvi.
2.53 pm: Naqvi said Opposition cannot use “fabricated issues” to tarnish the image of Modi-government.
2.50 pm: “Hamari party ki neeyat bohot saaf. Hum development ke agenda pe koi destructive agenda nahi dominate hone denge (The intention of our part is very clear. We will not let the agenda of development be dominated by any destructive agenda), says Naqvi. Listing the government’s “achievements”, Naqvi says the Opposition has been targetting the government because it cannot find any fault in their work.
2.45 pm: Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi urges the Opposition to refrain from giving “religious colour to such incidents.” “If you do, it helps the miscreants,” says Naqvi. He counters Azad’s claims that no action was taken against perpetrators of these incidents. “Arrests have been made in Alwar and Ballabgarh,” he says.
2.41 pm: “This is not a fight of the religion. This is not a fight between Hindus and Muslims or Upper castes and Dalits. This is a fight for the country, for humanity,” says Azad. “The Opposition can lay down their lives for the unity of this country. Please don’t divide this country for votes,” the Opposition leader concludes his speech.
2.38 pm: “Mujhe shaq hai ke yeh understanding se horaha hai. Hum statement denge tumhe jo karna hai karte raho. Agar yeh understanding na hoti toh kyun nahi koi pakra jaata? (The Opposition thinks the government is hand in gloves with these miscreants. The government has said that the perpetrators can do whatever they want and the government will give statements. If there is no understanding, how is it that no one gets caught?)” he says. “This is just is political harvesting,” Azad adds.
2.35 pm: “Pehlay, lynching agar hoti thi toh ek individual karta tha. Lekin iss waqt jitni bhi lynching hoti hai ruling party aur sangh parivar ka koi na koi involved hota hai. (Instances of lynching took place earlier as well. But nowadays, members of the ruling party or sangh parivaar are involved in these lynchings)” alleges Azad.
2.32 pm: While talking about the lynching of DSP Ayub Pandith in Srinagar, Azad said “it was as shameful as what is happening in other cities.” “This is against humanity,” he said.
2.26 pm: Azad also lists the different incidents of lynching across the country. The Congress MP also raised the issue of Dalit violence in the country.
2.23 pm: During the Ballabhgarh lynching of Junaid, no one came to his rescue, alleges Azad. The Congress leader also talks about a New York Times article citing how a Christian man targetted two Muslim girls in a train and how the girls were rescued by other people despite being targetted by the attacker.
2.21 pm: Azad targets BJP leader for Jharkhand lynching incidents. Police had arrested Nityanand Mahato of the BJP media cell in Ramgarh, and Chhotu Rana, the man seen hitting Alimuddin Ansari in a widely circulated video of the incident.
2.17 pm: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, addresses the parliamentarians on lynching.
1.12 pm: Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm.
12.55 pm: Mulayam Singh also spoke on the current Doklam standoff. “Bhutan aur Sikkim ki raksha karna Bharat ki zimmedaari hai. China hamara dushman hai, Pakistan nahi hai. Pakistan kuchh nahi kar sakta hamare Hindustan ka. (It is India’s responsibility to protect Bhutan and Sikkim. Our enemy is China, not Pakistan. Pakistan cannot cause us any harm)” he said.
12.45 pm: “China shadyantra kar raha hai Hindustan ke khilaaf, Pakistan ko bhi qabze mein le raha hai. Hamein khabar di gayi hai atom bomb Pakistan ki zameen mein China ne gaarh diya hai. China puri taiyyari kar chuka hai Hindustan pe hamle ki (China is plotting against India. It has Pakistan in its control. We have been informed that it has placed atom bomb on Pakistani soil. China is all ready to attack India),” he was quoted as saying ANI.
12.30 pm: Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav speaks in the Lok Sabha. Yadav raises concerns over China. “Aaj China se Hindustan ko bohot khatra hai,” he says.
12.14 pm: Why wasn’t a SIT formed to investigate the lynchings? The lynchings won’t stop merely with the Prime Minister speaking on the issue: NCP MP Majeed Menon.
The Rajya Sabha is adjourned for 10 minutes with Opposition MPs surrounding the Well.
12.05 pm: At the all-party meeting, the Prime Minister said it is unfortunate that people are being killed in the name of cow protection. The MHA also issued an advisory in this regard. Dragging the BJP into this is not right: MoS Home Hansraj Ahir.
12.00 pm: Arrests have been made in most of the lynching incidents. If nobody was caught in any case, let us know, we will inform the respective state government: MoS Hansraj Ahir.
11.40 am: YSRC MP Vijaysai Reddy raises the issue of drug abuse in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Police have recently recovered large quantities of contraband from peddlers who were selling drugs to students and Telugu film actors.
11.30 am: Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament, former union minister P Chidambaram said: “Many were injured in clashes between civilians and forces, yet government claims the situation in J&K improved. Such claims defy belief and common sense.”
11.20 am: Lok Sabha adjourned till 12 pm after ruckus by opposition over farmers’ issue.
11.05 am: JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav and Congress’ Divijaya Singh raised the agrarian distress across the country. Farmers are forced to sell produce at lower prices: Yadav.
11.00 am: Parliament in session. Question Hour underway.
Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal says “our salaries lower than secretaries”.
Our salary is lower than our subordinates. It feels as if we are begging for money. Include us in the 7th pay commission. I will sit inside the Well of the House if the government doesn’t respond: Naresh Agarwal.
10.50 am: Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar hoped that both the Houses will transact business today and are ready for a positive debate. On the BJP Parliamentary party meeting, Kumar said that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley discussed about the smooth launch of the GST.
10.45 am: Congress MPs protest in front of Gandhi statue at Parliament complex, demanding special package for flood-affected Northeastern states.
10.30 am: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury moves adjournment motion in Rajya Sabha to discuss ‘communal polarisation in the name of cow protection’.
10.25 am:
Delhi: PM Narendra Modi arrives for BJP Parliamentary Party meeting at Parliament library building. pic.twitter.com/l0c0LN6ra0
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 19, 2017
