'Nirmala', 'Bitcoin founder' protest tax on crypto in lecture for MPs

In an exclusive online briefing session for MPs on cryptocurrency by the Parliament's research wing, a certain 'Nirmala Sitaraman', 'Modi' and 'Satoshi Nagamoto' (founder of Bitcoin) among others created a 'hungama' over the Budget proposal to impose 30 per cent tax on digital assets.

And how did they gain access to this meeting? The meeting link, ID and password were published on the Lok Sabha bulletin on January 31 and its screenshots were apparently circulated in cryptocurrency circles.

The "intruders" gave their own presentations, some played music and others protested before the organiser Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE) threw the trouble-makers out of the session, but only after around 30-40 minutes into it.

Also read: Rajya Sabha returns to normal functioning after 41 sittings of disruption

The Lok Sabha Secretariat had organised 'A Lecture on Understanding Cryptocurrency and its Impacts on Indian Economy' on Wednesday afternoon in both physical and online mode for the MPs.

However, a Lok Sabha Secretariat official claimed that the session did not take place on Thursday as scheduled and it was postponed.

An email was sent to PRIDE seeking the number of MPs who participated in the physical and online sessions and the action taken on disruption but there was no response till the time of filing this report. There was also no mention of the lecture on PRIDE's Twitter handle though it regularly posts snapshots or videos of the programmes it conducts for MPs.

As soon as the session started, sources said, a number of "outsiders" entered the online session and created trouble. They were angry at the Budget proposal to tax cryptocurrency and other digital assets.

Sources said some people entered with fake profiles like Finance Minister Sitaraman and Nagamoto while one profile was named Modi. As the meeting was only for MPs, the settings had allowed any member in the conference to switch on the microphone and the camera.

As the commotion continued, sources said the host of the meeting warned the "intruders" that strict action will be taken against those violating rules and that their names have been noted. There were continuous appeals to the troublemakers to stop sharing screens and disrupt the proceedings. Finally, the host decided to remove all the participants from the meeting.

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