Opposition, BJP clash at panel meet over force on students

A meeting of a Parliament committee on Tuesday witnessed heated exchanges over the use of force against protesting students on July 20, as Opposition members demanded a discussion on the issue, sources said.

The matter was raised by Congress member Ajay Maken during the meeting of the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, where views of officials of various ministries were to be presented on the subject of “crimes against children”.

Maken said the issue of use of force against protesters should be taken up for discussion, but committee chairman Radha Mohan Das Agarwal did not allow it, noting that the matter is sub judice, the sources said.

The verbal sparring continued for about an hour as several opposition members, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Jai Prakash of Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT’s Sanjay Raut, RJD’s Sanjay Yadav and IUML’s Haris Beeran, too demanded that the matter be discussed at the meeting.

Maken and others raised the issue of alleged use of pellet guns, nail-fitted batons and lathis on protesters, including children, who were marching to Parliament on July 20 over the issue of paper leaks.

Rejecting the demand, the chairman said that the already listed agenda of the meeting would be taken up, where several ministry officials would present their views on the issue of crimes against children.

The Chairman, in his ruling, said that the committee would take up a discussion at a later date on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on the use of force on protesters. After the ruling, the opposition members relented and tempers cooled down.

Earlier, the other Opposition members backed Maken’s demand for a discussion on the issue, contending that it came in the category of “crimes against children”.

The panel chairman, however, did not accede to their demand and ruled that matters which are sub judice cannot be discussed at the Parliamentary Committee meetings, the sources said.

The chairman noted that the issues raised by opposition members were being looked into by the Supreme Court, which has already set up a committee in this regard, they said.

The sources said that Maken had presented a letter to the Chairman during the August 5 meeting of the panel that this issue be taken up, as it concerns children and the use of pellet guns, batons, and lathis constitutes crimes against them.

They said BJP member Tarun Chugh and Congress’ Jai Prakash were also involved in a spat, as Chugh raised the issue of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the Congress member countered him by alleging atrocities in Haryana under the BJP regime.

The panel meeting was called to hear the views of the Ministry of Labour and Employment; Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education; Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment; and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the subject of crimes against children.