MPs moved motion to adjourn to discuss Manipur situation. The situation in Manipur dominated the second day of the parliament’s monsoon session, with opposition parties asking the Center to discuss the issue.
UPDATE – Mon 24 Jul 23 at 09:22 AM
New Delhi: The monsoon session of Parliament, which has faced continued disruption from violence in Manipur since it began, will reconvene on Monday, with MPs having lodged a motion to adjourn to discuss the situation in the conflict-torn state.
A notice of motion to adjourn to discuss the situation in the north-eastern state was brought by MPs Manickam Tagore and Manish Tewari, who called for the suspension of zero hours, question time and other activities of the day to discuss the “continuing racial conflict”.
The monsoon session kicked off on July 20, amid violence in Manipur state and the opposition demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make the same statement “inside the House, not outside”.
Earlier on Sunday, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur lashed out at the opposition, saying it was evading parliament.
Thakur told the media: “The government is ready to discuss the Manipur issue, but the opposition has shied away from doing so. They are also evading Parliament. What is their obsessive-compulsive disorder? They want to stay in the spotlight, but they don’t want to participate in the discussion.”
Meanwhile, the opposition coalition India’s National Alliance for Inclusive Development (INDIA) will stage a protest in Parliament today. As a counter to this, the BJP is also planning to hold protests in front of the Gandhi statue in the parliament building to protest violence against women in Rajasthan, West Bengal and other states.
While the recent Manipur video outraged the nation, another incident in West Bengal in which two tribal women were stripped, tortured and beaten sparked a war of words between the BJP and Trinamo Congress.
Prior to this, on July 20, Bangladeshi members of the Bharatiya Janata Party sat in front of the statue of Gandhi to protest violence against women in Bangladesh.
On July 21, the Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party held a protest in front of the Gandhi statue to protest the horrific killings and continued violence against women in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party went on the offensive on Friday, slamming the Trinamur and Rajasthan governments in West Bengal and Rajasthan for their record of crimes against women.
Locket Chatterjee, a lawmaker from the Bharatiya Janata Party, broke down in tears at a news conference, asking whether violence against women in these states would only be brought to the fore by viral videos documenting such incidents.
Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat also highlighted similar crimes against women in Rajasthan in a separate news conference.
On the other hand, the opposition keeps asking the House to discuss the violence in Manipur and the videos that went viral in Manipur and the way women are being tortured there.
Going forward, the leaders of the Indian House of Representatives will meet today at the office of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament to formulate the strategy for the House, sources said on Saturday.
The situation in Manipur dominated the second day of the parliament’s monsoon session, with opposition parties asking the Center to discuss the issue.
On Friday, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha faced adjournment over Manipur. Both houses were unable to do any substantive business on Thursday and Friday as opposition MPs rejected the government’s offer to hold short-term discussions. (Arnie)
