Sena MP caught force-feeding fasting Muslim employee, sparks outrage

A Shiv Sena MP was caught on a video footage apparently force-feeding a fasting Muslim employee in the New Maharashtra Sadan here sparking outrage and a huge uproar in Parliament today amid demands for action against its MPs involved in the incident and calls to avoid giving communal tinge.

As the unsavoury episode escalated into a major controversy, sources in the Sadan, which is the guesthouse of the Maharashtra government, said it was a fall out of a group of Shiv Sena MPs being allegedly upset over the quality of food served there.

Claiming there was no one to take note of their complaint, the MPs then allegedly barged into the canteen and questioned an employee of the caterer observing Roza and who was identified as Arshad Zubair.

Watched by his party colleagues, Rajan Vichare in a fit of rage tried to thrust a roti in the mouth of the employee during the incident that was reported to have happened last week. The shaken employee, who had his name tag on his shirt, appeared to plead to the MP not to do this to him.

Vichare, who initially claimed that he did not do anything as made out after the footage was aired on TV channels, later said he regretted the incident. "I did not know the person's name, caste or community," he had earler said in the day.

As anger mounted over his action, Vichare later said, "I came to know that the employee was a Muslim only after seeing TV footage and I regret it". He also claimed that he was only trying to draw the attention fo authorities to poor quality of food served at the Sadan.

Opposition parties seized on the incident that came as an embarassment for the BJP-led NDA government and said it was an apt case to refer to the Parliament's Ethics Committee.

The issue was raised in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha by opposition members who demanded action against the Shiv Sena MPs who vociferously denied the reports.

After the uproar by opposition, the two Houses witnessed brief adjournments as agitated members wanted to raise the issue which was staunchly opposed by the Shiv Sena. The Lok Sabha also witnessed a walkout by the Congress, NCP, Left, PDP and AIMIM.

Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray said the uproar over the incident was an attempt to "silence" his party's voice. He, however, said despite being a votary of Hindutva, Shiv Sena had no hatred for other religions.

"This (uproar over the incident) is an attempt to silence Shiv Sena's voice. We are proponents of Hindutva but we don't have hatred for other religions," Uddhav told reporters in Aurangabad.

The IRCTC, the Indian Railways subsidiary that was catering for the Sadan, stopped all operations at the Sadan in protest and complained in writing to the Maharashtra Resident Commissioner, saying the employee had been "deeply pained and hurt...as religious sentiments are attached."

In a bid to calm frayed tempers in Lok Sabha, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu dismissed the allegations against the Sena MPs as "unsubstantiated" and said they need to be verified first lest they raise communal passions.

"We are dealing with a sensitive issue... Don't try to raise communal passions. Nobody knows the truth. Whether the incident has happened or not, we are not sure," Naidu said.

He said the the government is in no way connected with the "unsavoury" incident. "We need to enquire...Let us not send wrong signals to the country."

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Congress member M I Shanavas described the incident as "shocking" and said it is "cutting at the root of secularism. MPs who should be role models have become bad models...The faith of minorities has been tarnished. The House should condemn it."

Defending the Sena MPs, party leader and Union Minister Anant Geete said, "Those who want to respect the month of Ramzan should not make false statement in the House", triggering sharp protests from the Opposition.

"Whatever the report has appeared is totally false and Congress is trying to tarnish the image of the Narendra Modi government," Geete said.

In the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Prakash Javadekar said, "It is an unsubstantiated report. We should not take it to the next level. Let it be ascertained. There are sensitivities involved."

Outside Parliament, Krupal Tumane, Shiv Sena MP, said the food in the New Maharashtra Sadan is of inferior quality and the rotis cannot be broken with hand.

"We waited for the Resident Commissioner for over an hour to register our complaint. Since he did not turn up, we went to the canteen and asked the employee to eat the rotis himself. A Roza is not broken till the time someone swallows the food."

He accused the Congress of trying to give a communal colour to the incident. The BJP came out in defence of its ally and said that the MPs had no inclination to hurt religious feelings of any individual.

"The video also shows that the MPs had no intent to hurt anyone's feelings," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

When asked whether this case was fit to be referred to Parliament's Ethics Committee,  NCP MP Supriya Sule responded in the affirmative.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said, "I appeal that no communal colour should be given to this. But, they should not have tried to thrust rotis during the month of Ramzan when the person was observing fast."

MIM Chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi demanded that a compalint be filed against the erring MPs and also their arrest.