NDA-INDIA Face-off At Parliament’s Gandhi Statue Over Crimes Against Women

The Centre and Opposition parties are at each other’s throats again over crimes against women and the ethnic violence in Manipur.

Several Opposition MPs have, for three consecutive working days now, submitted strongly-worded adjournment notices in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, while BJP MPs from Rajasthan have gathered near the Gandhi statue in the Parliament House premises to protest against the rising number of heinous crimes against women in the western state.

MPs from the Opposition alliance INDIA have also gathered at the Gandhi statue, demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak on the situation in Manipur. Top BJP leaders had earlier said Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who visited the northeastern state once amid the raging violence, would address the Parliament on the issue.

The PM broke his silence on the situation in Manipur on Thursday, after almost 80 days since the violence started, saying his heart was filled with anguish and anger over the horrific video. Opposition leaders have said commenting on just one incident (the video) was not enough.

And his remark makes false equivalence with women’s safety in Congress governed states. Mr Kharge said the Opposition alliance, INDIA, expects him to make an elaborate statement in the Parliament, “not just on one incident, but on the 80-day violence that your government in the state and the centre has presided upon, looking absolutely helpless and remorseless.”

Union Ministers and top BJP leaders have repeatedly claimed the government was ready for a discussion on Manipur, and that it was the Opposition which was “running away” from it. However, they haven’t clearly stated if the Opposition’s specific demand for a longer discussion in the Parliament, suspending all other business for the day, is agreeable to them.

Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien has said the BJP is in “reactive mode”, and doing a “copycat” demonstration to deflect from the Manipur issue.

“Sure signs that INDIA parties are doing it right.

We announced our dharna in solidarity with #Manipur a few days ago for Mon 24 July 10.30 by Gandhi statue in #Parliament

BJP in REACTIVE mode. Doing copycat at same venue, hurriedly announced this morning. Looking to deflect,” he tweeted.

Both houses of the Parliament have been disrupted since the start of the Monsoon Session on July 20, with loud protest by Opposition parties who are demanding a detailed discussion on the unrest in Manipur, and an official statement by PM Modi on the issue inside both houses. While the Opposition is demanding that all other business be suspended for the day to take up the Manipur issue, the government has so far agreed only to a “Short Duration Discussion”.

The Opposition is demanding a longer discussion on Manipur in Rajya Sabha under rule 267, while the Centre earlier said it was “keen and agreeable” only to a shorter discussion under rule 176.

A huge stir over the horrific video of two women being paraded naked on a road by a group of men in Manipur had cut short proceedings in both houses of the Parliament on Thursday, the first day of the Monsoon Session, with little legislative business being conducted. The Opposition protest continued the next day, with the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha again being adjourned for the day.

“Their (Opposition) MPs had submitted notices under rule 176 as well. The Chairman was reading them out when they jumped in saying they want a discussion only under rule 267. The Chairman explained he was just reading out notices in a sequence and would come to 267 as well, but they didn’t listen to him. Then they started demanding that the PM come to the Parliament and give a statement. They keep changing their stand,” Junior Parliamentary Affairs Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had said on Friday, appealing to the Opposition to not indulge in politics on it as it’s a “sensitive issue”.

Rule 267 gives a Rajya Sabha MP special power to suspend the pre-decided agenda of the House, with the approval of the Chairman.

The government’s insistence on rule 176, or shorter discussion while other legislative business is also conducted, could be seen as a firefighting strategy to not let the Manipur issue, which has caused them a lot of public embarrassment, escalate further in the Parliament.