BJP and Congress MPs Spar Over Police Action and 1984 Riots in Parliamentary Panel Meet
A meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs witnessed tense moments and heated exchanges as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress members sparred over police action against protesting students and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The confrontation prompted the committee chairman, Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, to exclude the heated exchanges as well as a letter submitted by a Congress MP from the official record of the proceedings.
Dispute Over Meeting Agenda
The scheduled agenda for the meeting of the Standing Committee on Home Affairs was to hear the views of several ministries on the subject of "crime against children." However, Opposition members from the Congress party insisted on discussing the police action against students protesting in Delhi on July 20 over the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) paper leak row.
Congress members argued that the police action against the protesting students at Jantar Mantar constituted a "crime against children" and therefore fell within the purview of the day's agenda. A Congress MP had previously submitted a letter to the committee chairman on August 5 requesting a discussion on the issue. Because the letter was not taken up during the August 5 meeting, Congress members insisted that it be addressed during Tuesday's session.
Heated Exchanges and Counter-Accusations
The insistence of the Congress members led to strong objections from the ruling party. A BJP member interjected, stating that if the Congress members were not going to stick to the scheduled agenda of the meeting, he wanted a discussion on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. This intervention triggered a sharp verbal altercation between the two sides, particularly involving BJP MP Tarun Chugh and Congress MP Jai Prakash.
During the exchange, the BJP member accused the Congress of glorifying its former leader Sajjan Kumar, who was convicted for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and passed away last week. The BJP member claimed that a Congress MP had recently made remarks praising Kumar. In response, a Congress member retaliated by targeting the BJP over alleged fake encounters in Haryana, further intensifying the verbal clash.
Chairman's Ruling and Future Discussions
Two Congress MPs engaged in a direct exchange with the committee chairman, Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, arguing the importance of discussing the police action against the students. Agrawal, however, informed the panel that because the matter of the police action is currently pending before the Supreme Court, parliamentary rules and procedures prevent it from being discussed during the committee meeting.
Agrawal subsequently passed a formal ruling that the specific issue raised by the Congress members could not be taken up. However, he added that a broader discussion on the standard operating procedures (SOP) regarding the use of force during protests could be scheduled for a future meeting. He suggested that officials from the relevant departments could be summoned to discuss these procedures at a later date.
