The Hindu : Opposition protests Babri Masjid demolition

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 06, 2002

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National

Opposition protests Babri Masjid demolition

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI DEC. 5. Opposition parties today staged protests both inside and outside the Parliament, a day before the tenth anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition. An hour before the House met, MPs from almost all the Opposition parties sat on a dharna in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament complex, raising slogans denouncing the demolition and the ``Sangh Parivar'' outfits for creating communal tension. When the proceedings began they demanded that those responsible for the demolition be ousted from the Government.

December 6 being a holiday on account of Id-ul-Fitr, the Opposition parties chose to register their protest a day earlier.

Among those present were the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda (JD-S), Shivraj Patil and P.R. Dasmunshi (both Congress), Somnath Chatterjee, Basudeb Acharia and Hannan Mollah (all

CPI-M), Ramjilal Suman (Samajwadi Party), Ramvilas Paswan (Lok Janshakti), Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) and Abani Roy (RSP).

The MPs tried to raise the issue as soon as the Lok Sabha assembled, with Mr. Suman, Mr. Paswan, Mr. Mollah and G.M. Banatwala (Muslim League), tabling adjournment motions on the issue. The Speaker, Manohar Joshi, rejected all the notices and asked them to raise the issue during zero hour. In the Rajya Sabha, Nilotpal Basu, (CPI-M), raised the issue as soon as the House assembled.

The issue came up again in the Lok Sabha, as soon as zero hour began with Mr. G.M. Banatwala terming the demolition an ``act of terrorism.'' ``We cannot have any compromise with terrorism,'' he said, regretting that proper action had not been taken against the guilty.

Mr. Paswan sought to move a resolution calling for maintenance of peace and harmony in the country tomorrow. Mr. Dasmunshi said the demolition was a black day in the history of the country. The members were repeatedly heckled by the Treasury Benches, particularly those belonging to the BJP, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House.

Later, talking to mediapersons outside the House, the BJP spokesperson, V.K. Malhotra, criticised the Opposition parties for ``raking up the issue every year on December 6''.

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