The opening day of Bihar Legislative Assembly's Winter Session was adjourned Monday after Left parties, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), demanded the House to also pay homage to those killed in Palestine during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary, however, did not allow it, saying that it was not as per precedence. As the Left parties, supported by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's (AIMIM) lone MLA Akhtarul Iman, protested, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day amidst the ruckus. बिहार विधानसभा के शीतकालीन सत्र के पहले दिन #Gaza में जारी जनसंहार पर तत्काल रोक लगाने की मांग पर पार्टी विधायक दल का प्रदर्शन #stopgazabombing #BiharVidhanSabha #CPIML #GazaUnderAttack@MahboobCPIML pic.twitter.com/JnIo73rxGj — CPIML Liberation, Bihar (@CPIMLBIHAR) November 6, 2023 When the House observed a one-minute silence for those public representatives who had died recently, CPI (ML) MLA Mehboob Alam said: "As so many people, including children, have died in Palestine, the House should also mourn them". Speaker Choudhary replied. "It is against our precedence. We cannot allow it." The Left MLAs started shouting slogans. Reportedly, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav were surprised by the demand of CPI (ML), one of their allies in the government. Just before the beginning of the Assembly session, CPI (ML) MLAs protested against Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip with placards reading messages such as "stop mortgaging foreign policy of India before Israel-US axis" and "stop massacre in Palestine". बिहार विधानसभा के शीतकालीन सत्र के पहले दिन #Gaza में जारी जनसंहार पर तत्काल रोक लगाने की मांग पर पार्टी विधायक दल का प्रदर्शन #stopgazabombing #BiharVidhanSabha #CPIML #GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/ThMtSERZ7I — CPIML Liberation, Bihar (@CPIMLBIHAR) November 6, 2023 Mehboob Alam, who led the protest, told reporters outside the Assembly: "We want to remind the central government of former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee's stand on the Israel-Palestine conflict. India has been traditionally in favour of Palestine. There was nothing wrong in our demand for the House to mourn the deaths of innocent people in Palestine". Janata Dal (United) MLA Sanjeev Kumar, however, said: "We cannot accept the behaviour of our Left allies. They should also remember atrocities committed by Palestinians in Israel. The government should lodge cases against them. Even if they (Left parties) are our allies, we would object to their improper stand".
