Govt stonewalled demand for discussion, has scant respect for Parliamentary democracy:Oppn
New Delhi: Leaders of 11 opposition parties on Thursday accused the government of deliberately derailing Parliament and alleged that opposition MPs including women members were manhandled by outsiders who were not part of Parliament security.
In a joint statement, opposition leaders condemned the "authoritarian attitude" and "undemocratic actions" of the government and said what had happened in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday was shocking and an insult to the dignity of the House and humiliation of the members.
Accusing the government of stonewalling their demand for discussion, the opposition leaders charged that was it running away from the debate on Pegasus snooping issue.
The leaders of opposition parties earlier met in Parliament and later marched in protest to Vijay Chowk against the government.
The parties whose leaders were present at the meeting include those from the Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena, SP, DMK, CPIM, CPI, RJD, IUML, RSP and Kerala Congress (M).
TMC, AAP and BSP were not part of the meeting of opposition leaders which was also attended by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
"What happened in Rajya Sabha yesterday was shocking, unprecedented, sad and an insult to the very dignity of the House and humiliation of the members of the august House," they said in a joint statement.
They alleged that without any provocation from the Opposition, "outsiders who were not part of Parliament security were brought in to manhandle the Opposition leaders and members, including women Parliamentarians who were only protesting against the Government's conduct, highhandedness and muzzling of the voice".
"The Opposition strongly condemns the authoritarian attitude and undemocratic actions of the Government. We remain committed to continue our struggle against the assault on Parliamentary democracy and agitate the issues of national importance and people's concern," the joint statement said.
The leaders who signed the joint statement include Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sharad Pawar of NCP, T R Baalu of DMK, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Anand Sharma of Congress Ramgopal Yadav of SP, Sanjay Raut of SS, Tiruchi Siva of DMK, Manoj Jha of RJD, Elamaram Kareem of CPI(M), ET Mohd. Basheer of IUML, Binoy Viswam of CPI, NK Premachandran of RSP and Thomas Chazhikadan of Kerala Congress (M).
"The Monsoon session of Parliament was deliberately derailed by the Government which has scant respect for the institution of Parliamentary democracy," they charged.
The leaders said the combined opposition had unanimously conveyed to the government at the all-party meeting that they proposed to discuss important national issues and matters of public concern which include the Pegasus issue which has serious implications for national security, farmers' agitation resulting from the three farm laws and rising prices of essential commodities, food grains, petrol, diesel and LPG which has burdened the people, besides the state of the economy.
"The Government stonewalled the Opposition demand for discussion. It has become abundantly clear that the present Government does not believe in Parliamentary accountability and was running away from debate on Pegasus which resulted in a deadlock," they said.
The Opposition leaders claimed that they have been repeatedly requesting the Government to sincerely engage with the Opposition parties to break the impasse, but "the Government remained arrogant, insincere and obdurate".
It is the Government, which is squarely responsible for the stalemate, as it has refused to accept the opposition's demand for an informed debate in both the houses, they alleged.
"The Government used its brute majority to push through its legislative agenda in violation of established procedures, conventions and spirit of Parliamentary democracy. To divert attention from its own conduct and actions, the Government has unleashed a state-sponsored, malicious and misleading campaign by blaming the combined Opposition for the disruption of Parliament," the leaders said.
The opposition leaders also later met Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and complained against the alleged manhandling of its MPs including women members.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had termed as "totally false" the opposition's allegations that marshals manhandled their MPs and said one can check facts from CCTV footage.
The tumultuous Monsoon session of Parliament was on Wednesday curtailed by two days even as an anguished Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu broke down over the huge ruckus in the House equating the act of some opposition MPs to "sacrilege in temple of democracy" and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla saying he was "extremely hurt" by continuous disruptions.
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EC demands extra security as unrest grips Bangladesh afresh
Dhaka (PTI): The Election Commission (EC) has demanded extra security for its chief, other commissioners and officials as fresh unrest visibly gripped Bangladesh after gunmen shot an upcoming parliamentary polls candidate and frontline leader of last year's violent street movement dubbed 'July Uprising'.
"The EC has written to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) urging comprehensive security arrangements for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Election Commissioners (ECs), senior officials of the Election Commission Secretariat," the state-run BSS news agency reported on late Saturday.
The EC simultaneously sought the extra security for its field-level offices ahead of the 13th national election, as two of them came under attack in southeastern Lakshmipur and southwestern Pirojpur by unidentified miscreants after the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming polls on Thursday.
The commission demanded an additional escort vehicle for the CEC, while one such police escort with a vehicle was currently in place for him. It asked for round-the-clock police escorts for the four commissioners and the senior secretary.
The letter said the enhanced security measures were "urgent and necessary," while EC officials said their 10 regional offices, 64 district election offices and 522 sub-district level offices would store important documents and election materials.
The EC on Thursday said the upcoming parliamentary election would be held on February 12 next year, while a day later, Sharif Osman Hadi was shot from a close range in the head, critically wounding him, as he initiated his election campaign from a constituency in the capital.
Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) simultaneously asked Muhammad Yunus' government to provide security for all candidates in the upcoming election after the attack on Hadi, who leads a radical right-wing cultural group called Inquiab Mancha.
"We demand that the real culprit be identified immediately and brought under the law, and we call upon this government to ensure the security of all candidates without delay," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
Hadi was also a frontline leader of last year's student-led violent uprising that toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
His Inquilab Mancha was also at the forefront of a campaign to disband the Awami League, which the interim government complied with in May this year, disqualifying the party from contesting the polls.
The government on Saturday ordered a nationwide security clampdown called 'Operation Devil Hunt 2' amid escalated fears over the law and order situation and promised to issue firearms licenses for election candidates for their own security.
Home adviser (retd) Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said the government had taken steps to ensure special security for the "frontline fighters" of the July Uprising and promised to issue firearms licenses for the election candidates.
He emphasised that the second phase of the 'Devil Hunt' was aimed at helping ensure public safety and combat the growing threat of illegal arms.
The operation was initially launched in February this year following protests over an attack on the private house of a former minister of the ousted government in the northern suburb of the capital, when it targeted alleged "henchmen" and supporters of the now disbanded Awami League.
