By IANS,
New Delhi : A historic bill that promises to reserve 33 percent of legislative seats for women was moved in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament, amid unruly scenes as a dozen members opposing it tore up the document and hurled the pieces at Chairman Hamid Ansari before forcing a fifth adjournment in a day.
This happened on a day when both houses assembled to the call to “celebrate and honour women” and include them in the decision making process to mark the International Women’s Day being observed worldwide.
The controversial bill – for which the ruling United Progress Alliance (UPA) has support of numbers from the opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communists but opposition from some northern regional parties – faced repeated disruptions in the two houses of parliament. Protesting members also created a ruckus in the Rajya Sabha.
The upper house was adjourned for the fifth time at 4 p.m. when members assembled for a discussion over the legislation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called an all-party meeting to work out modalities of passing the bill without any discussion.
Sources in the Congress said the meeting would be held in the Parliament House before 6 p.m. when the Rajya Sabha meets again for a possible vote on the legislation.
Earlier, following violent scenes, a visibly agitated Chairman Ansari adjourned the house till 3 p.m. soon after Law Minister M. Veerapa Moily moved the bill for consideration and passage.
As soon as the chairman asked the minister to move the bill, members from the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) started shouting slogans and moving towards the chairman’s podium. By that time, Moily had already moved the bill.
Angry, the protesting MPs created a ruckus and snatched the bill from him and tore it into shreds. Rolling them into balls, some of the agitating MPs flung them all around. Some torn papers were thrown at the chairman.
Nand Kishore Yadav of the SP tried to climb up to the chairman’s desk but was prevented by a marshal.
Subhash Yadav of the RJD was seen attempting to assault the parliament secretary general who was seated below the chairman’s podium.
This was the third adjournment of the house Monday.
When the house reassembled at noon after an earlier adjournment, SP members raised slogans. In the event, no one could hear Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan.
Minister for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath read out a statement on the International Women’s Day.
The protesting MPs first demanded a discussion on the report of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities headed by Justice (retd) Ranganath Misra that favours job quotas for Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians.
The chair ruled this out, saying no notice was served for the debate on the subject. As a handful of SP members advanced menacingly towards the presiding officer, the house was adjourned till 2 p.m.
In the morning, when the house assembled at 11 a.m., Ansari read out a message on the International Women’s Day, saying that among others “women have to be included in the decision making process”.