New Delhi, 12 August (H.S.):

Congress leader Pawan Khera on Wednesday said any discussion in Parliament should not be restricted to the student protests and must also cover allegations concerning donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, action against students, alleged paper leaks and student suicides. He said the Opposition had been demanding a discussion on all these issues since the beginning of the session and maintained that the government should not impose conditions for holding a debate.

Speaking to reporters in the Parliament complex, Khera was responding to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that the government was prepared for a detailed discussion on all aspects of the student protests and that it would hold a debate if the Opposition submitted a request within 24 hours.

Khera said the ruling party had no right to impose conditions on a parliamentary discussion. He argued that if a debate is held, it must cover the alleged action against students, allegations of theft or misappropriation of temple offerings, alleged paper leaks, student suicides, and the alleged use of pellet guns, tear gas and other forms of force during protests.

He said the Home Minister would have to come to the House and respond to these issues.

Khera also questioned Shah’s statement that he had been regularly present in Parliament. He said there was a distinction between being present in the Parliament complex and being present inside the House during proceedings.

“If the Home Minister comes to the Parliament canteen or other areas of the complex, that cannot be described as being present in the House,” Khera said.

Responding to the government’s demand that the Opposition submit a written request to the Lok Sabha Speaker outlining the issues it wanted discussed, Khera said the Opposition had already made its position clear from the first day of the session.

He said there was no need for the Opposition to repeat which issues should be taken up for discussion. According to Khera, the government should be prepared to debate all relevant matters, including the alleged use of force against students, paper leaks and student suicides.

He questioned why the government was reluctant to discuss these issues in Parliament.

Khera further said that nearly 17 to 18 days had passed since the Monsoon Session began and that the government was only now offering to hold a discussion. He said the Opposition had been demanding for some time that the Home Minister come to the House and make a statement on the alleged action against students at Jantar Mantar and in other parts of the country.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar