Monsoon Session Day 1 Highlights: Both Houses Adjourned Amid Opposition Uproar Over Manipur Issue

India

oi-Prakash KL

Both
Rajya
Sabha
and
Lok
Sabha
were
adjourned
for
the
day
on
Thursday
amid
din
over
the
demand
by
Opposition
members
for
a
statement
by
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
on
Manipur
violence
in
the
House.

The
opposition
members
demanded
PM
Modi’s
statement
and
a
detailed
discussion
on
Manipur
violence
by
suspending
other
business
of
the
day
even
as
the
government
expressed
its
willingness
to
discuss
the
matter.

When
the
Upper
House
of
Parliament,
which
was
also
adjourned
in
the
morning
session,
resumed,
Chairman
Jagdeep
Dhankhar
asked
for
listed
papers
to
be
laid.

Opposition
members
started
raising
slogans
when
Union
Minister
for
Information
and
Broadcasting
Anurag
Thakur
moved
to
introduce
the
Cinematograph
(Amendment)
Bill,
2023,
to
further
amend
the
Cinematograph
Act,
1952.

Leader
of
Opposition
in
the
House
Mallikarjun
Kharge
said
he
has
been
demanding
a
discussion
on
the
Manipur
issue
since
morning
but
has
not
been
allowed
one.

Dhankhar
asked
opposition
members
to
maintain
decorum.
But
continuous
sloganeering,
forced
him
to
adjourn
the
House
for
the
day.

In
Lok
Sabha,
Opposition
members
shouted
slogans
such
as
“Manipur
Manipur”
and
“Manipur
is
burning”.
Parliamentary
Affairs
Minister
Prahlad
Joshi
said
that
the
government
has
already
made
it
clear
that
it
was
open
to
a
discussion
on
Manipur
in
both
Houses
of
Parliament.

He
said
that
Deputy
leader
in
Lok
Sabha
Rajnath
Singh
has
also
given
a
similar
assurance.
Joshi
said
that
Home
Minister
Amit
Shah
would
make
a
detailed
reply
once
the
discussion
takes
place,
the
time
of
which
will
be
decided
by
the
Speaker.

As
opposition
members
continued
raising
slogans,
Kirit
Solanki,
who
was
chairing
proceedings,
adjourned
Lok
Sabha
for
the
day.

Earlier
in
the
day,
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
on
Thursday
said
the
incident
of
women
being
paraded
naked
in
Manipur
has
shamed
140
crore
Indians,
asserting
that
the
law
will
act
with
its
full
might
and
no
guilty
will
be
spared.

“Today,
when
I
am
standing
by
this
temple
of
democracy
my
heart
is
full
of
pain
and
anger,”
he
told
reporters
in
his
remarks
at
the
Parliament
complex
before
the
start
of
the
Monsoon
session
and
amid
his
criticism
by
opposition
parties
for
not
speaking
on
the
ethnic
violence
in
the
BJP-ruled
northeast
state.

“I
want
to
assure
the
countrymen
that
no
guilty
will
be
spared.
The
law
will
act
with
its
full
might
and
firmness…
What
has
happened
to
these
daughters
of
Manipur
can
never
be
forgiven,”
he
said.

The
other
highlight
of
the
day
is
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
walking
up
to
Congress
leader
Sonia
Gandhi
to
enquire
about
her
health.