New Delhi: Parliament was rocked for the second day on Tuesday over the meeting of a journalist with terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed as opposition pressed for a response from government, which asserted that it had nothing to do with the “diplomatic misadventure of a private individual”.
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha saw disruptions as soon as the two Houses met for the day, with opposition Congress seeking suspension of Question Hour and pressing for government’s response over the “serious” matter.
Both Houses were again disrupted during Zero Hour with Congress and other opposition members expressing concern over the meeting and storming the Well raising slogans.
In the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said government has nothing to do with a journalist meeting India’s one of the most-wanted terrorists in Pakistan recently.
“Allegations that the government facilitated the journalist’s meeting with Hafiz Saeed is false and baseless,” Swaraj said.
“I am saying with full responsibility and very categorically and unequivocally that the government is in no way associated with this meeting.
“Neither did he (Ved Pratap Vaidik) while going to Pakistan, nor after going there, inform us that he was meeting Hafiz Saeed. This is purely a private visit and a personal meeting,” she said.
“The charges that he had gone there as somebody’s emissary or that he is a follower of someone and that the government was associated with the meeting in any way is completely untrue, baseless and very unfortunate. Government of India has nothing to do with it,” Swaraj said.
In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “This is a diplomatic misadventure of a private individual. The Indian State has nothing to do with it…The person (Vaidik) or his views has nothing to do with either the government or my party.”
His statement led to uproar with slogan-shouting Congress members storming the Well.
Stating that the concerns of the Leader of the Opposition are also the concerns of the entire country, Jaitley said, “The person or his views has nothing to do with either the government or my party.”
He also said, “If there is one party which in the last 66 years has a very strong view on Jammu and Kashmir it is my party.”
The issue led to adjournment of Rajya Sabha thrice while Lok Sabha was adjourned once.
As soon as Lok Sabha met for the day, Congress members led by Mallikarjun Kharge were on their feet demanding a reply from the government on the meeting of the journalist with Saeed.
When the Speaker declared that Question Hour will not be suspended, Congress members trooped into the Well shouting slogans like ‘Vaidik ko mat bachao’ (Don’t save Vaidik), ‘Home Minister jawab do’ (Home Minister give reply), ‘Hafiz ka sach batao’ (Tell us the truth on Hafiz affairs).
In the Rajya Sabha, which saw two adjournments during Question Hour and another during the Zero Hour, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said someone in this government must have facilitated the meeting.
“This is not just a matter of concern for us, but it is a matter of concern for the entire nation…If Vaidik has said something directly or indirectly to Hafiz Saeed, what action have we initiated against him,” Azad asked during Question Hour.
Azad said the journalist told a Pakistani TV channel in an interview that had he been the Prime Minister he would have allowed his (Saeed’s) entry to Kashmir without visa and that he was for Kashmir’s ‘azadi’ and that PoK and ‘Indian Kashmir’ should unite to form a separate entity.
“In Kashmir, there are a number of organisations that have not said so openly…even those whom we have jailed,” he said and demanded a statement from the Leader of the House.
Soon after the Upper House met, Congress joined by SP and BSP members raised the issue.
Satyavrat Chaturvedi (Cong) said new facts have come to light and government must inform the country as to who facilitated the meeting between Vaidik and Saeed.
Chairman Hamid Ansari asked members to allow Question Hour. But, as Opposition kept raising slogans demanding arrest of the scribe, he adjourned the House for 15 minutes and then till noon.
Vaidik, a freelance journalist, had met the Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief in Lahore on July 2 while touring Pakistan along with a group of journalists and politicians invited by a peace research institute. (PTI)
