Suspensions not linked to House attack: Speaker

Speaker Om Birla wrote a letter to all Lok Sabha members on Saturday, saying that the suspension of 13 opposition MPs on Thursday had “no association” with the December 13 “incident” and stressed the need to uphold the “dignity and decorum” of the House where members have held angry protests that led to adjournments for the latter half of last week.

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Opposition members stuck with their demand for the Union home minister Amit Shah to give a statement to Parliament over the December 13 incident when two men jumped onto the Lok Sabha floor and set off smoke cannisters in what is the most serious security breach since the 2001 terror attack that took place on the same date.

Birla said that in the past, “at the time of all such incidents, the House has displayed exemplary solidarity and expressed its collective resolve”. Opposition members appeared to be steadfast in their demand, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reiterating that the home minister should address the issue with a statement.

“It is a serious issue and the government should pay attention to it. We are repeatedly saying in Parliament that the Union home minister should come to the House and give a statement but he does not want to come. They (BJP) are not ready to let the House function,” Kharge said, according to news agency ANI.

A day earlier, Kharge said in a tweet: “What kind of justice is it to illegally suspend opposition MPs over the huge lapse in security of Parliament and MPs? The Home Minister of the country can give interviews on TV but cannot give statements on the floor of Parliament. INDIA parties demand that Shri Amit Shah should give a statement in the Parliament and then it should be discussed in both the houses. It is our duty to raise our voice on this serious issue of national security, it is our parliamentary religion.”