Monsoon session day 4: Mob lynchings dominate RS proceedings

The Monsoon session of Parliament enters its fourth day on Thursday and key bills related to the Ministry of Human Resource Development will be tabled before the House for consideration.

Both Houses of Parliament convened today, the fourth day of Monsoon session. While Rajya Sabha will continue its discussion on reported increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and Dalits across the country, Lok Sabha take up the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

In Rajya Sabha

LoP Ghulam Nabi Azad makes a speech and condemns HRD Minister's speech and declares the Congress is walking out. TMC also condemned the speech and staged a walk out.

HRD Minister Parakash Javadekar raises to respond, saying mob lynchings are a crime against humanity. "But along with this we should not fall prey to selective amnesia. In 1984, homes were burnt in Delhi and 3,000 Sikhs were lynched," he says.

He goes on despite voices from Opposition, he goes on to rake up the Godhra train burning. "Isn't that a big lynching," he asks.

He reels out statistics on lynchings from pre-May 2014 times, and asks whose government was in place.

JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav equates lynchings to "Talibani" atrocities and laments the fact that Jharkhand had become hub of such incidents, while taking pride that in JD(U)-RJD-ruled Bihar there was no such incident. "The climate of fear is making people afraid of travelling in trains, buses," he says.

"Cattle is the ATM of the farmers. We call it cattle wealth (pashu dhan)," he says adding that because of the climate of lynchings the farmers are driven towards suicide.

Kapil Sibal invokes Modi's old speeches on cow slaughter, blames BJP for mob lynching.

Shiromani Akali Dal's Naresh Gujral said that such incidents were not only condemnable but against the spirit of India. He said that apart from prime minister's strong words strict action was also necessary.

Bengal MP Tapan Sen also asks abut H-1B visa. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj says she will give a detailed statement on the issue.

AIADMK MP V. Maithreyan asks if H-1B visa was made by the Prime Minister during his interaction with US President Donald Trump.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj says the Prime Minister took the issue without using the word H-1B.

Ahmed Hassan speaks on negative impact of GST. He speaks about textile sector employees who protested in Gujarat recently.

MPs from North East raise the issue of Assam floods. Ripun Bora says Assam government has not taken any contingency plans.

AIADMK MP Navaneethakrishnan says the Tamil Nadu farmers are not agitating against the State government. They are protesting against Centre since they haven't revised the MSP.

In Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha attempts to proceed with Question Hour amid sloganeering; adjourned for the day.

The BJP-led central government has planned some 34 odd bills to be tabled during the Monsoon Session, which will have roughly 20 sessions. However, with Tuesday being a near washout and Wednesday's stormy session, the government would be hard-pressed to push its agenda.

OneIndia News