New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Carrying on his attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the alleged police excesses against agitators during the Parliament march on July 20, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that he should have issued a clarification over the matter.
As the row over Gandhi’s remarks made in the Parliament intensified, the INDIA bloc MPs came in support of the Congress MP.
Speaking to reporters within the Parliament premises, Gandhi said: “I have only said that there can be only two possibilities. One possibility is that the Home Minister gave the order. The second possibility is that the Home Minister did not know. In the first case, he is culpable. In the second case, he is incompetent. It can only be one of the two; there cannot be a third possibility.”
“He (Shah) didn’t come to the Parliament…supposedly brave Home Minister, why is he not in the House? If he has not done anything, then he should issue a clarification that he had not passed any order,” he said.
Backing LoP Gandhi, Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad said: “We had demanded that a discussion should have taken place over the lathicharge (on protesters).”
He questioned why, when remarks made against late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru “are not expunged from House records, then why does it affect when statements are made against the Prime Minister or the Home Minister?”
Congress MP Tariq Anwar said: “The whole country wants to know who ordered the police action against the students. Parliament has the right to know. Rahul Gandhi did not use any unparliamentary language…”
RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha was against Rahul Gandhi issuing any apology for his remarks.
“What should he apologise for? For stating the truth? Were pellet guns not used? Were lathis not used? Was there no extreme brutality? Under whose control is the Delhi Police? Do we need to search the heavens for the answer to that?” Jha told IANS.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Iqra Hasan said: “When the House was not functioning, it was decided that we would present our views on atrocities and everyone would be given sufficient time. Today, all of you saw that when the Leader of the Opposition was speaking, he was not allowed to speak… subsequently, the time allotted to other parties was also deducted.”
“I don’t know what Amit Shah ji is scared of that he is not coming into the House. The Opposition wants to know who ordered the brutal action against the protesters?” she added.
SP MP Dharmendra Yadav echoed the stance, saying: “The Bill has been passed, but the question is: Who attacked the children? And why has the government not given any answer regarding this attack? AK-47s were pointed at people in Bihar, even here, in Delhi, students faced many atrocities.”
–IANS
cg/vd