AIMIM party chief Asaduddin Owaisi addressed the ongoing protests and disruptions in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Thursday, calling for a return to order in parliament. His remarks came amid the adjournment of proceedings in both houses due to an impasse between the government and the opposition over the three-month-long violence in Manipur.
"My opinion is that the opposition should allow the parliament to function," Mr Owaisi told NDTV. He asserted that the acceptance of the opposition's no-confidence motion against the government a day ago should be followed by a return to order.
Questioning the opposition's tactics, he said, "It's a fair point that now no-confidence has been accepted, then the house should be allowed to function. Opposition parties should answer this question."
The parliamentarian expressed regret over the loss of precious parliamentary time due to the ongoing protests. "It's unfortunate that we have lost so many days of the session. We need to ask pointed questions to the government, expose their failures," he lamented. He emphasised the importance of the question hour, stating, "It's unfortunate that we are missing the question hour."
Mr Owaisi also highlighted the issue of significant bills being passed amidst the chaos, potentially without thorough scrutiny. "Important bills have been passed in the din, we haven't been able to expose the flaws in the bill," he said.
The AIMIM chief also criticised the government's attempt to compare the violence in Rajasthan and West Bengal with the ethnic clashes in Manipur. "The government, by saying let's discuss violence in Rajasthan and West Bengal, is trying to justify violence. It is very wrong for the cabinet minister to compare the pogrom against Kukis to incidents in other states," he said.
The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned until 2 pm on Thursday following disruptions over the demands of opposition members related to the Manipur situation. Opposition members, several of them dressed in black, continued with their protests on the Manipur issue, prompting the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings.
The Speaker, visibly peeved, reminded the protesting members of the decorum of the House, stating that they had been elected to discuss the issues of the people. Despite repeated adjournments since the start of the Monsoon Session last Thursday, the opposition has continued to press their demands for a detailed discussion on Manipur and a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
