Protests over Kasganj disrupt Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha
All market is closed after the fourth day of communal tensions in Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh. (EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA/FILE) All market is closed after the fourth day of communal tensions in Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh. (EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA/FILE)
The Zero Hour discussion in Rajya Sabha had to be suspended on Friday morning as noisy protests over communal clashes at Kasganj in Uttar Pradesh forced an adjournment.
Soon after the House met for the day, Samajwadi Party and AAP MPs entered the Well and started raising slogans, accusing the BJP government in UP of conducting a partial inquiry into the violence in Kasganj district on Republic Day.
SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said, “There is clear evidence on video on who is guilty. Yet atrocities are being committed against minorities in the state. Why are Muslims being arrested then?” Deputy Chairman P J Kurien refused to take up the matter and asked Yadav to give a formal notice, to which he replied, “People are being killed and the country is on fire and you want us to first give a notice?”
As SP and AAP MPs continued to raise slogans in the Well, Congress MP K V P Ramachandra Rao trooped into the Well with a poster that read, “Help Andhra Pradesh”. Although Kurien asked Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad several times to call him back and even threatened action against him, Rao refused to budge. The ruckus forced Kurien to adjourn the House for 45 minutes.
Once the House met again, AAP MPs raised the issue of the sealing of shops in the national capital by civic authorities. The party was backed by TMC MPs and the Congress.
Azad said, “Delhi is the second home of every Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MP and it is our duty to protect the people of this city. The government should respond. Their economic policies first damaged business and now this.”
The Opposition, however, relented once Kurien pointed out that the discussion on sealing drive in Delhi was listed during Zero Hour, which was disrupted due to protests AAP participated in.
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