New Delhi: Three Opposition MPs walked out of a meeting of a Parliamentary committee Thursday after their demand for a discussion on the Manipur unrest was turned down by the chairman of the panel.
MPs Digvijaya Singh, Pradeep Bhattacharya and Derek O’Brien had last month written separately to BJP Rajya Sabha MP Brij Lal, who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, seeking a discussion on Manipur.
While Singh and Bhattacharya are Rajya Sabha MPs of the Congress, O’Brien is the Trinamool Congress’ floor leader in the Upper House.
“Some of us had written to you last month requesting an urgent meeting of the Committee to discuss Manipur. This request too was not accepted. You also informed us that this issue will not be taken up for discussion any time in July. Sir, it is your prerogative to fix the agenda of the meeting. We stand against such an evasion of responsibility to discuss an issue of national importance, and are therefore choosing to walk out of the meeting held on 6 July, 2023,” they wrote again to Lal on Thursday.
ThePrint reported last week that Lal — a former IPS officer who served as the Director General of Police in Uttar Pradesh when Mayawati was chief minister — had turned down the demand from Opposition MPs to take up the Manipur issue in the next meeting of the committee. He said a discussion on prison reforms had already been decided as an agenda for the three meetings in July.
In their letter, the three Opposition MPs underlined that while “Prison — Conditions, Infrastructure and Reforms” was an important subject for the committee to take up, Manipur was in “serious crisis” at the moment.
“Having been a senior police officer yourself, you understand the gravity of the situation in the state. Manipur needs healing and an end to the violence. We as elected representatives cannot look away,” they added.
Seeking the discussion on Manipur, O’Brien had written to Lal on 15 June, followed by Singh on 21 June. In his written response to O’Brien, Lal said while “unrest anywhere in the country is a matter of concern”, it was difficult to hold discussions on the matter as the agenda of next meetings were fixed.
To Singh, Lal wrote: “I have noted down the concerns expressed by you”, and expressed “regret” over his inability to discuss Manipur as meetings on prison reforms had already been convened.
The next two meetings of the committee, also on the subject of prison reforms, are scheduled for 19 and 27 July.
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