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Opposition stages protest outside Parliament, demands Modi’s statement on Manipur
The government has expressed its readiness to debate in both Houses followed by Union home minister Amit Shah’s reply but the Opposition has insisted on Modi’s statement
Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) lawmakers held a protest near the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex on Monday against the “government’s silence” on the ethnic violence in Manipur and reiterated their demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge told journalists at the protest site that they were requesting both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha presiding officers to urge Modi to come and make a statement on what is the real situation. “The PM [Prime Minister] does not even come to the Parliament chambers and only sits in his office and listens to what is going on. If the PM makes a statement in the Parliament on Manipur, then we can have a discussion.”
He said Rule 267 of the parliamentary procedure allows discussion on such an issue for one hour or the entire day. “But they [the government] do not want that. One says, half an hour discussion and another says short duration discussion. Why you [Modi] are not coming to the House and telling the truth?”
Congress lawmakers Manickam Tagore, Manish Tewari, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Manoj Jha are among those who have moved adjournment motions to discuss Manipur.
A video surfaced online on July 19 showing three women being stripped naked and paraded in Manipur. It provoked outrage and led to the washing out of the first two days of the monsoon session last week. INDIA alliance has stuck to its positions over the debate on Manipur in Parliament.
The government expressed its readiness to debate in both Houses followed by Union home minister Amit Shah’s reply. But the Opposition insisted on Modi’s statement.
The INDIA alliance partners met at Kharge’s office at 10am on Monday to prepare a strategy for the second week of the session before staging a sit-in at the Gandhi statue over the Manipur issue.
Derek O’Brien, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha floor leader, said on Sunday that INDIA parties will work in unison on the floor of Parliament and its precincts.
Separately, the Bharatiya Janata Party staged a counter-protest against the “Opposition’s silence” on crimes against women in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and TMC-governed West Bengal.
The government planned to pass the MultiState Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in the Lok Sabha on Monday. A bill to replace the ordinance granting control of bureaucrats in Delhi to the Union government was also expected to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha this week.
One bill could be introduced over the first two days of the monsoon session last week. Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha functioned 5% and 8% of their respective time. No questions or issues could be raised during Question Hour or Zero Hour.
