Nearly 100 opposition MPs barred from Indian parliament session
- 18 Dec 2023
Nearly 100 opposition lawmakers have been temporarily barred from India's parliament for demanding a debate into last week's protest when a smoke canister was released in the legislature.
The 92 suspended MPs include key opposition leaders in both houses of the parliament.
Six people were arrested after the Dec.13 protest, when one man jumped onto the floor of the lower house of parliament from an overhead visitors' gallery.
Official footage from the session showed one man shouting slogans and vaulting over tables between stunned lawmakers before a device was set off that caused yellow smoke to billow into the chamber.
The following day, 14 MPs were barred from the chambers after they demanded the interior minister Amit Shah give a statement on the incident.
On Monday, at least 78 MPs were suspended -- 33 from the lower house and 45 from the house of elders.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a rare interview to the Dainik Jagran newspaper, called the incident "very serious" and ordered a detailed investigation, but said there was "no need" for a debate.
The premier, who remains widely popular, is seeking a third consecutive term in the national elections due by May next year.
"First, intruders attacked Parliament. Then Modi Govt attacking Parliament & Democracy," Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the opposition Congress party, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Under Modi's tenure, India has slumped in Freedom House's rankings for political rights and civil liberties, with police cracking down on protests, the ruling party scoring lavish funding from business allies and press freedoms curtailed.
The protest on Wednesday came on the 22nd anniversary of an attack on parliament — then in an older building — when five gunmen shot dead at least eight security personnel and a gardener.
Agence France-Presse
