Heated debate over intolerance sparks fears of session washout

WAR OF WORDS IN PARLIAMENT

NEW DELHI: The government on Monday conceded there was “some amount of intolerance” in the country, even as the Opposition turned on the heat in a fiery debate on the raging issue, potentially signalling the return of disruptions to Parliament.

The Lok Sabha was disrupted several times during the day after a Left lawmaker cited a news report to attribute a remark on the religion of the Prime Minister to Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who vehemently denied making the comment.

“I have never been hurt as much as I have been today in my entire parliamentary career. This is a huge allegation. He should prove it or apologise,” Singh said, after CPI(M) MP Mohd Salim accused him of making the controversial statement to a news magazine.

Salim, however, admitted the home minister was the first in the government to condemn the Dadri During a discussion on intolerance, CPI(M) MP Mohd Salim (below) attributed a communal statement to home minister Rajnath Singh

lynching incident.

After Salim refused to apologise, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan expunged his remark to facilitate resumption of the discussion. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is expected to intervene on Tuesday in the debate that remained inconclusive on Monday.

BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi hit out at the “so-called intellectuals” who had returned awards. “These were probably the rewards for political considerations and not home minister was the first to condemn the Dadri lynching incident when the rest of the govt had refused to react

the awards, which were genuinely sought,” she said.

Late in the evening, the maga zine, Outlook, admitted it had erroneously attributed a remark made by the late Ashok Singhal of the VHP to Rajnath Singh.

The Rajya Sabha — where MPS were participating in a discussion on the commitment to India’s Constitution — however, had a smooth run.