Oppn Members Walk Out Of Parliament Panel Meet As Request For Manipur Violence Discussion Denied

Opposition members of the parliamentary standing committee on Home Affairs walked out of a meeting after their demand to hold discussion on the violence in Manipur was denied by the panel chief.

Opposition members of the parliamentary standing committee on Home Affairs walked out of a meeting on Thursday after their demand to hold discussion on the violence in Manipur was refused by the panel chief, news agency PTI reported citing sources. TMC's Derek O'Brien, and Congress' Digvijaya Singh and Pradip Bhattacharya submitted a joint letter to panel chairman Brijlal at the meeting to discuss prison reforms in Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and stated that as committee members they cannot ignore the situation in the northeastern state, the agency's sources further said.

The letter stated that it is their moral and constitutional responsibility as members of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs to discuss this matter with the utmost urgency and sincerity. "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 said, as quoted by PTI.

Some of them wrote to the Chairman last month, demanding an urgent meeting of the Committee to discuss Manipur, but that their request was denied, news agency PTI reported citing sources. "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," they said, as quoted by PTI.

According to PTI, the three are unlikely to attend the two other meetings that are slated to be held this month. The agency's sources also claimed that before leaving, the members urged BJP MP Biplab Deb to accompany them because he was from the Northeast.

Earlier too, O'Brien and Singh wrote to Brijlal urging him to hold a meeting to discuss about the violence in the northeastern state. The chairperson had informed both MPs separately about the inability to hold meetings urgently on the Manipur situation, as three meetings on prison reforms have been scheduled for July. A total of seven members, including the chairman, attended the meeting. More than 3,000 have sustained injuries in the ethnic violence that broke out in Manipur on May 3. 

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