Govt not misleading House, says Pranab

Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha, led by the BJP, today staged a walkout when Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, responding to concerns raised over media reports of militants infiltrating the armed forces, said that the government was ‘‘not misleading’’ Parliament on the issue.

Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha, led by the BJP, today staged a walkout when Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, responding to concerns raised over media reports of militants infiltrating the armed forces, said that the government was ‘‘not misleading’’ Parliament on the issue.

The issue of militant outfits, especially the Lashkar-e-Toiba, infiltrating the forces was raised by BJP’s V K Malhotra at the start of Question Hour. He wanted the entire Question Hour to be suspended. The Speaker, however, said the issue could be raised right after Question Hour.

After Malhotra referred to the media reports, Mukherjee said that as per preliminary information available, following investigations after the arrest of two militants in J&K, Lance Naik Mohammed, Lance Naik Shakil Iqbal and Abdul Haq of the J&K Light Infantry were arrested in June. The two militants had also named a constable who too was detained.

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Thereafter, the discussion in the House became heated. The BJP, referring to the Home Minister’s earlier statement in the Rajya Sabha that the three men were not from the army and belonged to paramilitary forces, said there could be no such distinction in the forces. The party accused the government of misleading Parliament on a sensitive issue.

The Defence Minister, however, maintained that the three were not armymen and the Home Minister was ‘‘factually not wrong’’ as the said men were currently in the paramilitary forces, two of them in the Rashtriya Rifles. He said therefore, the Home Minister had ‘‘not misled’’ Parliament.

At this, the Opposition staged a walkout.

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