6 Congress MPs suspended by Sumitra Mahajan.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan today said she was "deeply hurt" over the conduct of Congress MPs in the House and that she had only asked them to raise the lynching issue after Question Hour.
Mahajan's comments came shortly after she suspended six Congress MPs from the House for five days for their "highly unbecoming" conduct during protests over the lynching issue that "undermined the Chair's dignity". "I am sad and deeply hurt ... and unable to understand why this happened, as I did not prevent them from raising any issue. I told them they can raise the issues they want but only after the Question Hour," she told reporters outside the House.
She said Lok Sabha members Gaurav Gogoi, K Suresh, Adhir Rajan Chowdhury, Ranjeet Ranjan, Sushmita Dev and M K Raghavan had torn official papers and thrown it towards the Chair.The speaker said she had told the Congress's leader in the House, Mallikarjun Kharge, that his party can raise the issue but after the Question Hour.
Mahajan said the Question Hour is normally not suspended, according to the rules of the Parliament's Rules Committee which includes members of all parties and that she was only following the rules. The Speaker pointed out that President Pranab Mukherjee in his farewell speech had yesterday said the proceedings in Parliament should not be disrupted. Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said if any opposition party wants to speak or raise any issue, they should give a notice in advance.
Wanted to discuss cow vigilantism: Suspended MPs
Ranjeet Ranjan, who along with four other Congress members was suspended from the Lok Sabha today, said the opposition wanted a discussion on the incidents of cow vigilantism in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home minister Rajnath Singh.Claiming that the "atmosphere of fear" prevails in the country, she said 50-60 people have been killed within a year in the mob lynching incidents.
"We had given the adjournment motion. There have been incidents of mob lynching. There is fear among Dalits, adivasi and minority due to (pakhandi) fake gau rakshaks," she said, adding we wanted a discussion in the presence of Prime Minister and Home Minister on the issue. She said even after the prime minister condemned the killing in the name of gau rakshaks, the mob-lynching incidents have been reported from the BJP ruled states.
"I think this is a conspiracy. The ruling party is playing the politics of hatred," she added. Ranjan was among six Congress members who were suspended from the Lok Sabha for five days by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on the ground of "highly unbecoming" conduct during their protests over the lynching issue that "undermined the Chair's dignity".
Other members suspended for their "improper behaviour" were Gaurav Gogoi, K Suresh, Adhir Rajan Chowdhury, Sushmita Dev and M K Raghavan. In her order, Mahajan said that all these members had torn official papers and thrown it towards the Chair. She said all this had happened despite her agreeing to a discussion on the issue of alleged atrocities against Dalits and Muslims. Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and a few other members had raised the issue of atrocities and she had allowed them to speak, Mahajan said.
Opposition cries foul:
The Congress on Monday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the issue of suspension of its party leaders in the Parliament and said that the Centre has been trying to restrict freedom of speech of the opposition.
Congress leader Shobha Oza told ANI, "The freedom of speech was restricted in the parliament when our MPs tried to protest lynching and violence over cow slaughter and were immediately suspended." She further alleged that the BJP was somewhere involved directly or indirectly in all kinds of violent activities that were taking place in the society.
The CPI(M) today attacked the Centre over suspension of six Congress MPs on the ground of their "highly unbecoming" conduct during their protests over the lynching issue, saying the opposition will not be silenced by its such "undemocratic" tactics. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury termed the tussle as "battle" for constitutional values of the country. "The Opposition will not be silenced by such undemocratic tactics of the govt. This is a battle for Constitutional values of our country," he tweeted.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) Lok Sabha member Mohammed Salim demanded Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to reconsider her decision to suspend the six Congress members. "Not allowed to discuss #MobLynching today #LokSabha witnessed unprecedented noisy seen... members suspended. Hon Speaker should reconsider," he tweeted.
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