New Delhi: Uproarious scenes were witnessed in both Houses of Parliament during zero hour on Wednesday after the Opposition raised the issue of 11 Shiv Sena MPs allegedly forcing a Muslim catering supervisor to eat a chapati though he was fasting for Ramzan at New Delhi’s Maharashtra Sadan last week.
In an action-packed zero hour, the Lok Sabha also saw Congress leader Rahul Gandhi taking part in his first walkout staged by the Congress, NCP and Left parties after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected their demand for a discussion on this issue.
BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri, who started shouting at the Opposition members — “Go to Pakistan, this is Hindustan” — rushed to the Opposition benches. What could have turned into an ugly scene between Mr Bidhuri and All India Majli Ittehadul Muslimeen member Asaduddin Owaisi was prevented as both were restrained from accosting each other by other members. While Mr Bidhuri was later forced to apologise for his misconduct by his own party, after sitting down he could be seen grinning. With Mr Bidhuri’s remarks setting off an uproar, the Speaker was forced to adjourn the House for around 15 minutes.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that the BJP MP’s conduct must be condemned by all and should be referred to the ethics committee.
Besides BJP patriarch L.K. Advani, no saffron MP or minister in the government either condemned or spoke against the alleged outrageous and insenstive behaviour by MPs of its Shiv Sena ally.
And only mild criticism came from Mr Advani, who merely said: “This is wrong.”
Congress leader Kamal Nath lashed out, saying: “This demonstrates their (Shiv Sena) mindset. This demonstrates their thinking.” Several Opposition Memers of Parliament, from the Congress, NCP, RJD, Left parties and the Indian Union of Muslim League, in a letter to the Speaker demanded a probe into the incident.
“We would request you to uphold the dignity of the House by ordering an inquiry and also direct the government for an immediate inquiry and appropriate action so that such wanton behaviour is not repeated,” they said in the letter.
