RS adjourned for the day amid Oppn uproar over Delhi violence

Ravi S.Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 2

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day on Monday following uproar by Opposition parties over the violence in the national capital, with members accusing the government of sleeping while Delhi burnt.

As the Upper House re-assembled at 2 pm after an adjournment earlier in the day, Opposition MPs including those belonging to the Congress, AAP, Left, TMC, SP, BSP and DMK were up on their feet shouting slogans and accusing the government of failing in its duty.

Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was conducting proceedings, made repeated appeals to protesting members standing in the Well to return to their seats so that the House could function normally.

He also urged three members sporting black blindfolds to remove them, saying these were against the decorum of the House.

However, the members were unrelenting and protests continued.

The violence in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi has left at least 42 dead and over 200 injured.

Amid the sloganeering and protests, Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ introduced a bill which seeks to convert three deemed-to-be Sanskrit universities into Central Sanskrit Universities.

The Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019 was passed by Lok Sabha in December last year.

Pokhriyal moved that the Bill to establish and incorporate universities for teaching and research in Sanskrit, to develop all-inclusive Sanskrit promotional activities and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto, as passed by Lok Sabha, be taken into consideration.

As opposition members kept protesting and raising slogans, the Minister spoke about the importance of the Sanskrit language.

As per the proposed legislation, Sanskrit Central Universities will be set up by converting three deemed Sanskrit universities, presently functioning in the country.

The three deemed universities are Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth in New Delhi, and the Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth in Tirupati.

Earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha was forced to adjourn till 2 pm due to ruckus in the House over the violence in north-east Delhi and other parts of the country, with Opposition parties demanding discussion on the issue as a priority over other business, and Chairman Venkaiah Naidu disallowing it.

The opposition parties, including Congress, Left parties, TMC, Samajwadi Party and TMC had given notices to take up the issue for discussion but were disallowed by Naidu.

Naidu said he disallowed the notices given priority needed to restore peace and normalcy.

“I will speak to the Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition, and the Minister and then fix the time for discussion,” Naidu said.

“Let normalcy return first,” he added, urging Opposition members who were on their feet objecting to turning down of their notices, and simultaneously pressed for a discussion on the violence.

The opposition, however, did not relent. A Member had put on a badge in protest against the violence, which was objected by Naidu.

Leader of the Opposition and Congress Member Ghulam Nabi Azad said: “Had the government been serious on restoring normalcy, it would not have slept for three days and nights.”

Naidu said: “Help to restore normalcy.”

Leader of the House Thawar Chand Gehlot objected to Azad’s statement, saying it was “improper”.

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