Amit Shah addressing Lok Sabha on Wednesday
Requesting Parliamentarians to help in spreading awareness about coronavirus, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan in Lok Sabha said that the government is taking efforts to contain the spread of infection. External Minister S Jaishankar also said that the government is trying to ensure the well-being of Indians stranded in Iran and Iraq. "There are operational constraints in evacuating Indians as the Iranian system is strict. We will do whatever we must do to check the spread of coronavirus," Jaishankar said, adding that 'exceptional circumstances require exceptional measures'.
Earlier in the morning, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that there was no proposal to adjourn the House over coronavirus. In Rajya Sabha, meanwhile, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu urged citizens and parliamentarians to adhere to guidelines issued by the Health Ministry to prevent the spread of infection. Later in the day, a fiery exchange is likely to take place in Rajya Sabha as the House debates Delhi riots, that killed over 50 people.
During the discussion on Wednesday in Lok Sabha, the Opposition asked for Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation. He, on the other, hand, vowed not to spare the rioters and called the Delhi riots a conspiracy that had been hatched well in advance and assured Parliament that the rioters, irrespective of which side they belong to, will not be spared. He also defended the Delhi Police which has faced severe criticism for alleged dereliction of duty. The Congress later staged a walkout.
On the Opposition criticism that the government had deliberately delayed a discussion on the Delhi riots in Parliament, Shah said this was done due to the festival of Holi and to give time to the Delhi Police to conduct investigations. “During Holi, sentiments are often high. In the past communal clashes have happened… We just wanted a peaceful Holi.”
Beginning his speech with expressing grief over the deaths in the riots, Home Minister reiterated multiple times that strict action would be taken against anyone behind the violence. “The Narendra Modi government will not spare anyone from any side… A scientific investigation is being conducted. No innocent will face any trouble. They may be called for questioning, but no one will be arrested without evidence,” Shah said.
Elaborating on the “conspiracy” behind the riots, Shah said 300 people had entered from Uttar Pradesh, and referred to speeches made by the AIMIM’s Waris Pathan and former JNU student Umar Khalid. He also obliquely accused the Congress, in particular Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, of inciting violence. He said police were using face recognition software and had identified more than a thousand people through it.
“On December 14, a political party held a rally at Ramlila Maidan. Its leader gave a speech where she made a call for ‘Aar paar ki ladai (fight to finish)’. On December 16, Shaheen Bagh started. Another senior leader of the party said if you don’t get out of your homes now you would be called a coward. Were these not hate speeches?” Shah said, adding that 76% of all riot deaths in the country since Independence had happened in Congress regimes.
The Opposition held the government squarely responsible for the Delhi riots, with the Congress and other parties seeking the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“When Rome was burning, Nero was playing fiddle or flute on Palatine Hill and waiting to see the burning of the city in order to build one golden palace, Domus Aurea. It appears Nero has now arrived in India. When Delhi was burning, Nero was in Ahmedabad playing flute with President Donald Trump,” Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha Thursday. (Photo: Screengrab @Rajya Sabha TV)
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11 am on Friday.
"Delhi government is working well towards compensation and relief of the riot victims. The central government, too, is supporting it," says Amit Shah
Terming it wrong to identify riots with his party he said, "We are not the one to trigger riots, we are among those to find out the rioters and punish them."
Amit Shah clarified:
1. No documents will be asked for in NPR
2. If you don't have any document, you won't have to submit that.
3. Nobody will be marked 'doubtful'
"I reiterate to my Muslim brothers and sisters that false propaganda is being spread on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This Act is not to take anyone's citizenship but to give citizenship," Amit Shah said in Rajya Sabha
"There were some social media accounts that started 2 days before violence and were deactivated on December 25. These accounts only functioned to spread hatred. Their owners must be thinking that they are safe. But this is a digital age. We will find them and present them before law," Amit Shah said.
Despite instigation from various quarters, Delhi Police restricted the riots to 4% of the area and 13% of the population, said Amit Shah. "Such effort of the police is laudable," he added.
Amit Shah said 1922 people who could be seen spreading violence in various videos of the riots have already been identified. He added that the government will soon find out who funded the rioters.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday vowed to punish those behind the Delhi riots, irrespective of their religion and party. Speaking during a session on Delhi riots in Rajya Sabha, Shah said, “We won’t spare anybody, irrespective of whichever party or religion they belong to. We will set an example by punishing the rioters.”
People conspired to spread rumours and instil insecurity among the Muslims, says BJP's Bhupender Yadav. He lashed out at Opposition for misleading the minorities in the name of secularism.
"Just as the Centre is sending a team to tackle coronavirus in Kerala, I request the Home Minister to send a team to the state to see how we are containing the communal virus," said Abdul Wahab, IUML, Kerala.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh lashed out at the central government saying that the government is against arrests of the rioters. "The judge who orders arrests also gets transferred," he added.
Terming Shaheen Bagh "communal", "divisive", BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan Vijay Goel Thursday blamed the protests there for the riots in Delhi. While speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Goel said, "Had there been no Shaheen Bagh, there would not have been any riots."
Anand Sharma asked for a ban on possession of private weapons. He said people responsible for the Delhi riots should be punished irrespective of their parties.
Congress' Anand Sharma said, "CAA lacks constitutional morality and it is the constitutional right of the states to move Supreme Court against it if they want." He added that there are a lot of people who follows religion. "Whoever loves his or her own religion, is also respectful towards other religion," he said.
SAD's Naresh Gujral should put in efforts to remove insecurity's in the minds of the minorites. Bringing in reference to Sikh riots, he said, 1984 should not be repeated in any means and asked the government to ensure that the victims' families get their compensation.
BJP's Swapan Dasgupta said, "The atmosphere of hatred was set by the violent protests in Bengal's Kolkata and Ulluberia just after the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed on December 11."
"We don't expect Home Minister to resign for his post. He is not Lal Bahadur Shastri. We just expect him to come from the North Block to the Parliament and give a statement," said Tiruchi Siva of DMK.
Elamaram Kareem of CPI(M), said, "Inaction of Home Ministry even after intelligence inputs made the situation worse. Police, who were under the central government, were mere spectators when the hooligans ran riots."
TRS leader Banda Prakash requests Amit Shah to take necessary steps and arrest those responsible for the Delhi riots irrespective of which party they belong to. Prakash said the violence was no less than the coronavirus that left Delhi shaken for several days.
The government should consider extending CAA concession to Muslims of non-Islamic countries where Muslims are a minority, BJD proposed in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. BJD leader Prasanna Acharya, while speaking during a discussion on Delhi riots, also said it is the responsibility of the government to remove the misconception regarding the CAA among the people.
Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Javed Khan demanded the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah. 'Amit Shahji, you said that you had let go of lunch, dinner with Trump. In the same way, if you would let go of your post, it would be a boon for this country,' he SPsaid.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien demanded quick action against those behind the Delhi riots. Lashing out at the Prime Minister and Home Minister of the country, he said, "Stop following the social media handles of those spreading hatred and bigotry."
"Everybody knows Gandhi's political vision was Ramrajya, favourite bhajan was 'Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram', last words were 'Hey Ram'... and the day in 2007, it was said that Ram never existed, Gandhi was killed on that very day," Sudhanshu Trivedi said.
"The situation of the Delhi Police has become like Iraq. They are being attacked for every wrong that is happening," says BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi.
Just as the celebrations to welcome Donald Trump were orchestrated, the Delhi riots were also orchestrated, says Kapil Sibal. "You can do anything to protect cows, can't you do anything to protect the lives of human beings? Do we need to bring another Article to ensure the protection of human being?" he asks.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal began the opposition's charge. "There are two types of viruses in the world right now. One is coronavirus and the other is a communal virus. When the communal virus was spreading, who were the collaborators," he said. He also raised the incident of the man who was forced to sing the National Anthem and later succumbed to his injuries. "Everyone knew what was happening, the Delhi police knew nothing."
Rajya Sabha resumes proceedings
Members in Lok Sabha shared some lighter moments on Thursday over Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s mention of Khadi wrist watches, with some of them wondering when they will get such watches. When the minister mentioned that such watches have been given to the Speaker, DMK leader T R Baalu and some other members were heard asking, “what about members?”. “I will try to give it (wrist watch) on concession rate… it is (now) out of the market,” Gadkari told members and many of them were seen smiling.
Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2.45 pm. The House will take up Delhi riots for discussion after it resumes
Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday advocated introduction of pink buses for women in cities with a population of over 1 crore. Replying to a question in Lok Sabha on security of women in public transport, Gadkari said in these buses the driver, conductor and passengers are all women. Some cities have already introduced this service and it is running successfully, he added. The minister said manufacturers have already been instructed that new buses must have panic buttons and CCTV cameras. (PTI)
Parliament on Thursday passed amendments to the insolvency law that will help ring-fence successful bidders of insolvent companies from risk of criminal proceedings for offences committed by previous promoters. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was passed by voice vote in Rajya Sabha. It was approved by Lok Sabha on March 6. The Bill replaces an ordinance.
"The National Institute of Virology in Pune is our central reference lab. After this we started with 15 labs because this is not a routine test, it can't be tested in every laboratory. Even now, despite this being such a big task, activities are being coordinated at 51 laboratories across the country and collection centers at 56 locations. We are in constant touch with state governments, will ask them to send a report on positive cases," the health minister said.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the Centre is in constant touch with officials across the state to contain the spread. "There is a need for awareness. As parliamentarians, you should educate people in your districts and disseminate the information among citizens."
Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the Centre is in constant touch with officials across the state to contain the spread. "There is a need for awareness. As parliamentarians, you should educate people in your districts and disseminate the information among citizens."
Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the Centre is in constant touch with officials across the state to contain the spread. "There is a need for awareness. As parliamentarians, you should educate people in your districts and disseminate the information among citizens."
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan is addressing Lok Sabha on the battle against coronavirus. "Everyone coming to India is made to fill the forms about their thermal history. They are then put through thermal screening. Not all symptoms are visible right away. However, they can develop in the next 14 days. This is why we share data related to any suspicious patients with authorities across the country. There are over 30,000 people on community screening."
"As per available information there are about 6000 Indian nationals in various provinces of Iran, including 1100 pilgrims mainly from Ladakh, J&K and Maharashtra, nearly 300 students primarily from J&K, about a 1000 fishermen from Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Gujarat and others who are on longer-term stay visas in Iran for pursuing their livelihood. Where communities are understandably anxious, we should reassure them and encourage the observance of globally recognised precautions & procedures. An excessive sense of alarm would only be to the detriment of those who are really in it," S Jaishankar said.
"As the House would have noticed, where specific interventions are required - as in the case of Wuhan in China, the Diamond Princess crew in Japan or now the pilgrims in Iran, we will take necessary action. But these are exceptional situations that require an exceptional response. At this time, travel in itself is not recommended as it only heightens risks," S Jaishanksar said.
Addressing Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the government is making all efforts to ensure that Indians stranded in Iran, Iran — countries affected by coronavirus — are doing well. "We are reaching out to our nationals and ensuring that they are in good health. We are focusing on students there and our endeavor is to facilitate their early return. We are in touch with the governments there to provide treatment facilities to those tested positive for the virus."
In Lok Sabha, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that universal screening has been put up in place to contain the spread of coronavirus. He goes on to explain that while initially, passengers from the 12 most-affected countries were screened, now, all incoming passengers are subjected to basic thermal screening tests regardless of where they come from. "Every passenger is screened," he said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman raises motion to move the amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill, 2020. Economist and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh says that this is the fourth time that the bill is being discussed in the House.
A debate on Delhi riots will take place in the afternoon, Naidu said. Over 50 people have died in the violence. On Wednesday, Home Minister Amit Shah had vowed not to spare anyone involved in the violence and also stated that it will be lesson for the country on what befalls those who indulge in rioting.
Vice president Venkaiah Naidu urged the citizens and Parliamentarians to take the precautionary measures in wake of coronavirus outbreak. He also requested them to adhere to all guidelines issued by the Health Ministry.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has said that there is no proposal to adjourn Parliament sine die in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak in the country
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi and Shiv Sena MPs paid tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on Shivaji Jayanti at Parliament premises
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and DMK MP A Raja have given Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha over Yes Bank crisis and its impact on customers.
Welcome to The Indian Express live blog on Parliament. Protest over Delhi violence is likely to take place in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Follow the latest news and developments from Parliament