At a time when the entire nation is still in a state of shock following the reports of brutal rape and murder cases in the country, a rather disturbing development took place in the Parliament. During a debate over the issue of women safety and the highly discussed rape and murder case in Hyderabad, two unruly Congress leaders charged towards BJP MP from Amethi, Smriti Irani while she was speaking. The unceremonious behaviour caused an uproar in the House.
Smriti Irani was speaking against Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s attempts to politicise and communalise rape. She said, “this is not a political issue. I thought that you should have commented when Adhir Ranjan was speaking.” Irani also took a veiled dig at the TMC, and said, “people who used rape as a political weapon in West Bengal panchayat elections are giving sermons.”
It is important to mention here that there has even been an open exhortation by a TMC leader to use rape as a political tool. Taking a dig at TMC MP Saugata Roy, who spoke about the issue of sexual violence before her for not referring to a similar case in West Bengal’s Malda, Irani said, “Yes, setting afire a woman is condemnable, a heinous crime. Yes, the rape and killing of a woman is inhuman, but do not politicise the issue. No one has ever communalised the issue in this House.”
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After this point, the Lok Sabha witnessed ugly scenes as two Congress MPs, T N Prathapan and Dean Kuriakose left their seats and charged towards the aisle near the well, raising their voice while Irani was speaking. Prathapan was seen rolling his sleeve and the two lawmakers were pulled back by their colleagues.
Their unbecoming demeanour, however, sent shock waves through the House as BJP MPs took notice of this rowdy conduct. Irani said, Today, I had a Congress MP chastise me for he said I spoke aggressively. In the House, some male MPs came towards me rolling up their sleeves, following which a young MP said, “Why did Smriti Irani even speak?”
Union Minister Smriti Irani: Today, I had a Congress MP chastise me for he said I spoke aggressively. In the House, some male MPs came towards me rolling up their sleeves, following which a young MP said, "Why did Smriti Irani even speak?" pic.twitter.com/MwNZoFz8Lp
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2019
It is utterly shameful and ironic how the two MPs couldn’t tolerate the fact that a woman MP was speaking at a time when the House was discussing the issue of women safety. While the opposition, particularly the Congress was trying to corner the government over the issue of women safety, these Congress MPs have actually shown their misogynist side and how women are not free to speak even in the Parliament.
What is worse is the fact that the two MPs have not yet apologised for their threatening behaviour towards the Women and Child Welfare, Smriti Irani, despite several BJP MPs including Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi demanding that the two lawmakers apologise for their threatening demeanour. Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, submitted a notice to speaker Om Birla, seeking action under Rule 374 over the misconduct of the Congress MPs. The Congress seems to have actually come out in defence of the two MPs. The issue of women safety is, therefore, nothing more than a political matter for the grand old party, which failed to rein in and take action against its own MPs over their threatening position against Smriti Irani.
