On Tuesday the lone MP from Nagaland, KG Kenye entered the well of Rajya Sabha demanding that he be heard on the killing of civilians by security personnel but did not get a chance. He was supported by the Opposition MPs, who temporarily halted their sloganeering to demand revocation of suspension of 12 MPs, but was not allowed as the discussion was ongoing.
After a few minutes, Kenye returned his seat while the Chairman, Harivansh adjourned the House, as the Opposition continued their protest. On Wednesday the Government adjourned Rajya Sabha at 3 PM because it did not want the lone Nagaland MP, K G Kenye, to speak on the horrific killings in his state. On Wednesday Kenye was allowed to speak for three minutes after which his microphone was muted. This is shocking as the Rajya Sabha is the Council of States and members represent their states. Earlier, the NPP, MP Agatha Sangma who spoke on revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the North East following the killing of 15 civilians was also disrupted.The new trend in Parliament today is not to allow dissenting voices to speak up. The very idea of democracy is subverted. The Opposition continues to demand the revocation of suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs who raised their voices on the Farmers’ Bills and wanted a discussion on its revocation. The Rajya Sabha Chairman wanted them to apologise before their suspension is revoked. Opposition MPs have not allowed any discussion to happen following the suspension of their fellow members.
In the Lok Sabha, Home Minister, Amit Shah tried to defend the firing by armed forces on the civilians at Oting, Mon Dsitrict on Saturday and said they were forced to open fire as they had credible intelligence about the movement of insurgents of the NSCN (K) group from across the Myanmar border and because the vehicle carrying the coal mine labourers did not stop when told to. In that case was it necessary to shoot to kill? There were other ways of bringing the vehicle to a halt by firing at the tyres. But that standard operating procedure was not followed. It is obvious that the demand for revocation of the AFSPA as demanded by the Nagaland Government and which also has the support of quite a few MPs both in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha might not get traction if it is not sustained by civil society across the country. The demand for revocation of AFSPA must be a live issue.
