After more MPs suspended, Oppn leaders compare Parl with 'North Korean assembly'
New Delhi (PTI): Opposition lawmakers Tuesday hit out at the government after 49 more Lok Sabha members were suspended from the House, calling Parliament a graveyard of the Constitution and comparing it with the North Korean assembly.
The suspension of 49 Lok Sabha MPs came a day after, a total of 78 -- 33 from the Lower House and 45 from the Upper House -- lawmakers were suspended from Parliament for disrupting proceedings.
Reacting strongly to the developments, Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, "The graveyard of the constitution is visible here".
"Opposition MPs whose job is to raise questions in Parliament are thrown for doing their job...this is the new India... see it," she said outside Parliament.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said Parliament will soon resemble the North Korean assembly. "We are going to resemble North Korean assembly and only thing missing is synchronised clapping when the PM walks in. This is going to be a token house," he said.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said what is happening is "disgraceful to be very blunt".
"They have no desire to have a democratic system of parliamentary democracy at work. What they are interested in is to have a opposition-mukt Lok Sabha. So, we are seeing a situation where we feel there is no respect for parliamentary democracy," he said.
Manish Tewari, Congress MP, said Parliament has been totally delegitimised. "This is to lay the framework of passing the most draconian law in parliament which will turn this country into a police state," he said.
He was referring to three bills which seeks to replace the three colonial-era criminal laws.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav who was also present on the Parliament premises said the BJP speaks of the temple of democracy, but with what face will they call it the temple of democracy now when they have expelled the opposition.
"This is their way of imposing their own will. And if they come back next time, then the constitution of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is finished; we and you will not be able to enter through this door," he said.
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Chhattisgarh: Three detained in connection with Bijapur journalist's murder
Bijapur (PTI): Three persons have been detained in connection with the murder of a 33-year-old journalist whose body was found in a septic tank on a local contractor's property in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said on Saturday.
Mukesh Chandrakar, a freelance journalist, went missing on January 1, and his body was found on Friday in the septic tank on a property owned by contractor Suresh Chandrakar at Chattanpara Basti in Bijapur town.
"Three persons have been detained in connection with the murder and are being interrogated," an official here said.
The police, however, did not disclose their names and said the details would be revealed later in the day.
Mukesh worked as a freelance journalist for news channels, including NDTV, and ran a YouTube channel, 'Bastar Junction', which has some 1.59 lakh subscribers. He had played a crucial role in the release of a CoBRA commando, Rakeshwar Singh Manhas, from Maoists' captivity in April 2021 following the Takalguda Naxal ambush in Bijapur, wherein 22 security personnel were martyred.
He went missing on Wednesday evening, and his elder brother Yukesh Chandrakar lodged a complaint with the police the next day, a senior police official said.
Tracking Mukesh's mobile number, police reached the property owned by Suresh Chandrakar and found the body in a septic tank, which was freshly cast with concrete slab, he said.
Police suspect the murder is linked to a recent report of irregularities in road construction work in the district the victim had covered. Suresh Chandrakar is said to be involved in the work.
Journalists held a symbolic road blockade at Hospital Chowk on National Highway 36 in the city in the morning, demanding that the contractor's properties in Bastar division, including Bijapur, be attached and a case be registered against him.
They also demanded a death sentence for the contractor and others involved in the murder, removal of security detail for him, and sealing of his bank accounts, among other demands.
The protesting journalists also sought the suspension or transfer of the Bijapur superintendent of police.
Protestors have warned of an indefinite road blockade from Sunday if their demands are not met.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Friday assured that the culprits would be arrested at the earliest.
Meanwhile, members of the Raipur Press Club on Friday gathered at Jai Stambh Chowk and demanded action against the killers and sought that the state government constitute a special investigation team to probe the murder.
