Chhattigarh Assembly Speaker Dharamlal Kaushik on Wednesday stated that the attack by Maoists was not against any public representative or a political party but on the democratic arrangement which the Naxals had been opposing in the country.
Addressing the House on the conclusion of the 13th session of the third Assembly of Chhattisgarh State here, the Speaker said that the need of the hour is how to strengthen the democratic arrangement. ‘Urgent steps would have to be taken to establish people’s faith in the democratic system as well as strengthening the system’.
‘I am unable to stop myself from saying that one would never forget the incident in which the nefarious act of Naxals led to the martyrdom of members Nand Kumar Patel with his son Dinesh Patel, former leader of Opposition Mahendra Karma, former MlA Uday Mudliar and Chhattisgarh’s seniormost leader Vidyacharan Shukla.
He said that the members in the House have followed the high parliamentary parameters and the traditions in 12 sessions of the House conducted in about five years. 'The 13th session was affected by sentiments which to my view was natural’. Kaushik further commented: ‘ Naxalism is such a problem which is not just confined to this (Chhattisgarh) State but the Naxals had been achieving their designs in neighbouring Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Mahharashtra .
‘There had been a national level discussion on this (Naxalism) issue and we hope that the Centre and states together would be able to evolve a solution’, the Speaker said. He said that Chhattisgarh Assembly is the first in the tenure of the current Assembly to have received the honour of passing the Food Security law. ‘This apart, there were many significant works completed during the tenure of the third Assembly in Chhattisgarh which would be written in golden letters in the history of Chhattisgarh’.
Kaushik said that the achievements made during the third Chhattisgarh Assembly would be remembered in times to come.
‘I am aware of your sentiments which had emerged from the untimely death of House members which had affected all of us. However, as per the established traditions of the House, the concluding session is an important segment of the farewell ceremony, because today would be tomorrow’s history and it should be our endeavour that no page of Chhattisgarh’s third Assembly remains incomplete’.