The Assembly witnessed unusual incidents on Thursday with the ruling and Opposition members coming very close to exchanging blows over Deputy Leader of Opposition M.K. Muneer’s statement on the women’s wall planned on January 1.
Mr. Muneer sought leave for an adjournment motion on the women’s wall and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the idea for forming the wall had evolved at a meeting of community organisations held in the wake of the Supreme Court on Sabarimala. The government would not bear the expenses for the initiative. Girl students had not been told to boycott classes to join the wall. But those abstaining from the initiative would have no place in history, he said.
Mr. Muneer said the people would pull down the proposed wall, which he described as a ‘communal wall’ like the way the Berlin wall was demolished. Infuriated Left Democratic Front (LDF) members rushed out of their seats and disrupted Mr. Muneer’s speech demanding withdrawal of the statement against the wall.
Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan’s assurance that comments without a factual basis would be expunged did not pacify the LDF members and Mr. Muneer too refused to repeal his statement on communal wall. Mr. Sreeramakrishnan then adjourned the House for discussions.
On reassembling, Mr. Sreeamakrishnan said that women members had filed a complaint against the statement and requested Mr. Muneer to repeal it, but the latter refused again evoking strong protest from the LDF members.
Once the din reached a frenetic pitch, Mr. Sreeramakrishnan announced his decision denying leave for the motion. Enraged Opposition members then moved out of their seats raising slogans against Mr. Sreeramakrishnan and Mr. Vijayan. Before trooping out of the floor, they came face to face with LDF members who also continued sloganeering to counter them. What began as a friendly spat between the members, soon took a violent turn and went to the verge of exchanging blows. Senior members of both sides intervened to avert a showdown.
The UDF members then squatted on the floor, raised slogans and boycotted the House. Mr. Sreeramakrishnan then completed the day’s business in haste and adjourned the Assembly.
Mr. Sreeramakrishnan, later, told reporters that it was difficult to conduct the proceedings in the face of such protests. Sloganeering and protests were quite natural, but members coming to blows was quite unusual. The House cannot be conducted to the satisfaction of all members and all of them should take it seriously, he said.