Ruckus in Haryana Assembly after Congress raises Nuh violence issue

Communal clashes had erupted in Nuh and its adjoining areas after a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was attacked by a mob on July 31 leading to the death of six people, including two home guards and a cleric.

Chandigarh:The Haryana Assembly was briefly adjourned on Monday following an uproar as the opposition Congress raised the issue of the violence in Nuh and sought a probe monitored by a high court judge. Communal clashes had erupted in Nuh and its adjoining areas after a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was attacked by a mob on July 31 leading to the death of six people, including two home guards and a cleric.

When the Zero Hour commenced in the Assembly on Monday, the Congress members demanded a discussion on the Nuh violence, but Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said the matter was sub-judice. While Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that only the matter pertaining to the bulldozer action by the authorities in Nuh was pending before the high court, Congress leader Kiran Choudhary asserted that they were raising the law and order issue and it should be discussed.

"Chief Minister (Manohar Lal Khattar) had recently made a statement on the Nuh incident pointing towards a conspiracy. A discussion here on the issue will make things clear. We are also demanding a judicial inquiry into the incident," Hooda said. BJP member Satya Prakash, however, alleged that the foundation of the Nuh violence was "laid" in the Assembly when Congress MLA Mamman Khan made some "inflammatory remarks" on the floor of the House in the previous session.

Amid angry exchanges, the Speaker adjourned the House for 30 minutes. When the House reconvened, Prakash insisted that the Mamman Khan issue should be discussed but the Speaker kept on saying that the Nuh matter is sub-judice. Congress' legislator B B Batra asked if Parliament can discuss the Manipur matter, on which the Supreme Court had taken a suo motu cognisance, then why cannot the Nuh matter, barring the "bulldozer action part which is before the high court", be discussed in the Assembly.

The Speaker said the Nuh and Guguram violence was also part of the matter before the high court and therefore the issue cannot be discussed in the House. Kiran Choudhary said the sub-judice matter is only on a specific issue, and it is not that the entire law and order matter cannot be discussed. "We want to know where there was a law and order breakdown (in Nuh)," she said. Her party colleague B B Batra told the House that while the Speaker has cited rules to say that sub-judice matters cannot be discussed in the House, Article 194 of the Constitution says that there shall be freedom of speech in the legislature. "There was discussion on the Manipur issue in Parliament," Batra said.

Hooda claimed that the BJP government stands exposed on the law and order matter and was running away from giving a reply. Batra and Hooda insisted that the Speaker give his ruling on the matter. Hooda also alleged that the BJP government was running away from the Congress' demand for a high court judge-monitored probe into the Nuh clashes.

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said what happened in Nuh was "very wrong". "We are a democratic and a secular nation where people can practice the religion of their choice. In this context, the VHP had taken out a Brij Mandal Yatra," he said. At this, the Speaker interjected, saying if the state home minister starts giving a reply, then it will mean discussing the entire issue. Vij, however, said he would not make a detailed statement, but limit himself to saying a few things regarding the Nuh incident.

"As per the investigations so far, 500 people have been arrested and the role of people which is coming to the fore, points to the hand of the Congress," Vij said, triggering an immediate reaction from the Congress benches with its MLA raising slogans against the state government. "Police issued a notice to Congress MLA Mamman Khan asking him to join the investigations in the Nuh incident. In the previous session, Khan had made a statement in the Assembly," Vij added.

As the ruckus continued, the Speaker adjourned the House for a lunch break. Earlier, the opposition members had demanded minister Sandeep Singh's resignation after Chandigarh police's chargesheet in the sexual harassment case against him. Later, when the House resumed, other matters were taken up. Days after the Nuh violence, a demolition drive was initiated in Nuh which came under the high court scanner on August 7 with Justice G S Sandhawalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeevan taking suo motu cognisance and halting the exercise.

The high court had asked if the demolition drive was an "exercise of ethnic cleansing". The Haryana government has defended its demolition drive in Nuh, saying no structure was razed going against the law and the exercise was "not remotely a case of ethnic cleansing". (PTI)