Both Houses stalled over Sri Lanka issue

Parliament on Thursday witnessed an uproar over the weak stance of government on resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Agitated MPs of the Dravida Munnethra Kazhagam(DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnethra Kazhagam (AIADMK) stalled the proceedings of both the Houses.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned thrice as DMK and AIADMK MPs trooped into the well of the House and shouted slogans against the government, demanding that India should seek an international probe into alleged war-crimes committed by Sri Lankan armed forces during the 2009 military crackdown on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam guerrillas. Trinamool Congress MPs too came to protest the Centre’s alleged discriminative attitude to West Bengal.

MPs of the DMK, who just quit the ruling United Progressive Alliance, also denounced the Central Bureau of Investigation’s raid at the residence of the party’s leader M K Stalin in Chennai early on Thursday. The House witnessed uproar soon after it met for the day.

As soon as Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar read out the obituary reference to Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman, who passed away on Wednesday, DMK and AIADMK MPs raised slogans demanding that India should take a hard line stand against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC. The Speaker had to adjourn the House till 12 noon. But even as the House reassembled, DMK and AIADMK MPs returned to the well and started raising slogans.

They were joined by TMC MPs, who raised slogans against Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh for not releasing funds under central schemes to West Bengal, where the regional party is in power.

After papers were tabled amid ruckus, P C Chacko, who was in the chair, asked agitated
MPs to go back to their seats and allow their leaders to speak on the issues they wanted to raise. Chacko asked M Thambidurai of the AIADMK and T R Baalu of the DMK to call MPs of their respective parties back from the well and speak on the issues. While Thambidurai refused to call AIADMK MPs back from the well, Baalu was seen firmly rejecting the chair’s call to speak.

Chacko then adjourned the House till 2 pm. But the ruckus continued even after the House reassembled, Deputy Speaker Kariya Munda adjourned the House for the day.

The Rajya Sabha witnessed similar scene with DMK, AIADMK and TMC MPs disrupting proceedings during the question hour. Chairman Hamid Ansari had to adjourn the House soon after it assembled for the day.