Tawang face-off sparks political clash in House
Opposition parties on Wednesday mounted an offensive against the government over clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh last week, triggering a logjam in Parliament with a flurry of adjournment motions and walkouts disrupting proceedings.
Opposition parties on Wednesday mounted an offensive against the government over clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh last week, triggering a logjam in Parliament with a flurry of adjournment motions and walkouts disrupting proceedings.
Opposition parties pressed the government for a full debate and asked for clarifications on the face-off in the Tawang sector, a day after Union defence minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that Chinese troops attempted to transgress the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh’s Yangtse sector on December 9, and unilaterally change the status quo along the contested border, but were pushed back by Indian soldiers.
Also read | Tawang face-off sparks political clash in House
The government didn’t budge, and gave no indication of giving into the demand for a debate.
In the Rajya Sabha, the chair did not permit a discussion, and said there was no precedent for allowing one on such a sensitive issue. In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla asked the Opposition lawmakers to participate in Question Hour, ignoring their demand for an adjournment motion to set aside other discussions.
“Don’t you want to run the Question Hour? You create a ruckus every day on important topics like Question Hour,” Birla said amid protests. He later pointed out that the subject of debates had to be decided in the business advisory committee of the House.
Also read | Chinese air force builds infra in Ladakh theatre amid tense LAC
The Opposition, led by the Congress’s parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, walked out twice in the Lok Sabha and once in the Rajya Sabha. The party’s floor leader in the Lower House, Adhir Chowdhury, argued that a debate was held during the Indo-China war in 1962.
“When the Indo-China war took place in 1962, Jawaharlal Nehru ensured that in this House, 165 MPs were given a chance to speak. And after the MPs spoke, a decision was taken on the next course of action. We demand that this subject (border situation) be discussed,” he said.
On Wednesday morning, Opposition parties, barring the Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, met at Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber to discuss strategy. A senior Opposition member added that the parties decided to retain focus on the issue of India-China border situation and raise it in “different ways”. Communist Party of India leader Binoy Viswam added that “A joint statement from the entire Opposition will be issued soon on the current border situation.”
Among the parties that attended the meeting were the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), National Conference, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Shiv Sena (Thackeray), Left parties and Rashtriya Lok Dal.
The government, meanwhile, stuck to its stand that Singh’s statement on Tuesday put on record the details of the face-off. Singh had said the scuffle led to injuries to a few personnel on both sides. “I wish to share with this House that there are no fatalities or serious injuries our side. Due to timely intervention, of Indian military commanders, PLA soldiers went back to their locations,” he said on Tuesday.
Kharge raised the issue of allowing a “detailed discussion” in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday morning so that the facts of the conflict could be made known to the Opposition as well as the people. Kharge’s demand was backed by members from the AAP, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and left parties, among others.
“Our effort from the start has been that we get full information and the country is also informed of the actual situation...,” Kharge said and added, “We are for the country. We are with the army.”
Deputy chairperson Harivansh, who was in the chair, however, ruled out the discussion and the Opposition parties staged a walk out.
Members of the Opposition are also concerned that they have not been able to raise issues of national concern under Rule 267 in both the Houses. The rule allows for suspension of business to take up an issue of national importance.
The Indian and Chinese armies have been locked in a standoff along LAC in eastern Ladakh since May 2020. That standoff is in its third year, with a full resolution still not in sight even though the two sides had had partial success in disengaging frontline soldiers from some friction areas on LAC and talks are on to end the deadlock that has cast a shadow over the bilateral relationship. While Ladakh has been at the centre of the current border tensions between India and China, China has ramped up its activities in the eastern sector too.
Scores of Indian and Chinese soldiers were involved in a tense face-off in the Yangtse area last year too. The October 2021 face-off took place when rival patrols came face-to-face near Yangtse, with the soldiers asking each other to retreat to their respective sides. The face-off lasted a few hours before the matter was resolved at the level of local commanders.
Speaking to the media outside the House, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari accused the government for not holding a discussion on the issue. He said, “All the 17 parties are standing behind the soldiers but we are all concerned about the issue which cannot be compromised in terms of the border issue. National security is a major concern.”
Congress MP Nasir Hussain said all the 17 parties held a discussion on the Chinese aggression earlier in the day in the House and decided to raise several public issues. “We had to walk out on the issue yesterday and today too on the clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers on the LAC. In the next few days, we will keep raising some other issues of public interest,” Hussain said.
