Headlines
After protests over Sayeed comments, Lok Sabha sees peace
The Lok Sabha resumed normal business Tuesday after a second day of
protests sparked by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad
Sayeed's comments crediting Pakistan and militants for the state's
peaceful elections.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah
Naidu said the government decision to disassociate itself from Sayeed's
remarks and the appreciation of the work done by the security forces and
the Election Commission must be seen as "the sense of the house".
Home
Minister Rajnath Singh earlier said the government did not agree with
Sayeed's assessment that Pakistan, militants and the Hurriyat Conference
had facilitated the Kashmir elections of November-December 2014.
"The
chief minister made a statement and several members raised questions. I
made it clear yesterday that our government and (our) party completely
dissociates from the remarks. There is no question of welcoming such
remarks," Rajnath Singh said.
He said the credit for the peaceful
elections in the troubled state, which on Sunday got a PDP-BJP
coalition government, went to the poll panel, the army, the paramilitary
forces and the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
"I think the whole
house agrees with this. There is no question of endorsing the (chief
minister;s) remarks," Rajnath Singh said.
As opposition MPs
appeared dissatisfied, Naidu said the home minister had made a
statement. "This is the sense of the house. Let us move forward."
After Naidu's remarks, the house resumed its normal functioning and went ahead with the question hour.
Sayeed's
controversial remarks, made during a press conference after he took
oath of office Sunday, disrupted the Lok Sabha Monday too.
Earlier
Tuesday, th house was adjourned twice over demand by the Congress and
other opposition parties for a resolution over Sayeed's remarks. They
also sought a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The house was first adjourned till 11.30 a.m. and then till 11.45 a.m.
A
group of PDP legislators stoked another row Monday by saying the
constitutional process was not followed while hanging parliament attack
convict Afzal Guru, who hailed from the Kashmir Valley.
The
Peoples Democratic Party legislators also demanded the return of the
mortal remains of Afzal Guru from New Delhi's Tihar Central Jail.
Afzal Guru was hanged on February 9, 2013 on charges of facilitating terrorists to attack the Indian parliament house in 2011.