As It Happened: Parliament Adjourned Amid Opposition Demands For Discussion On Delhi Riots

Both the houses of the Parliament adjourned for the day on Monday amid Opposition demands to discuss the Delhi riots  in which 47 people have died. As Opposition MPs called for home minister Amit Shah’s resignation, union ministers in Lok Sabha claimed their priority was peace. 

The home minister and the prime minister have not made any public statements about the victims of the violence took place in the capital last week.

The Delhi Police said it had registered 254 FIRs and arrested or detained 903 persons so far. Forty-one of the cases were registered under the Arms Act.

Three bodies were fished out from two drains in Gokalpuri on Sunday while one body was pulled out out from a drain in Shiv Vihar, police told PTI. 

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Here are the day’s updates:

5.06 pm: Action against 18 people, 24 people arrested in connection with rumour-mongering on March 1

4.45 pm: AAP panel recommends 3-year jail term for spreading rumours

In a press conference after the peace committee’s meeting, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said the AAP panel would recommend a three-year jail term for people spreading rumours. 

“We will soon issue a phone number and an email id where people can file complaint against those spreading fake and hate messages. We will probe and send such complaints to law enforcement agencies,” he said, according to ANI .

4.09 pm: Health minister doesn’t want to talk about relief for Delhi riot victims ‘right now’

3.33pm: Delhi HC asks police for status report

The Delhi High Court asked the police on Monday to file a status report on measures taken by it for medical treatment and rehabilitation of violence-affected people in northeast Delhi. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar directed the Delhi Police to submit a report on the measures taken in compliance with the court’s February 26 order, PTI reported.

Advocate Suroor Mander, representing the petitioner Rahul Roy, told the court that most of the rehabilitation measures are being carried out by the community itself. Citing the February 26 order, she said there are still major gaps, like setting up of relief camps, and sought court’s direction for the government to take over such rehabilitation measures.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on April 30.

3.06 pm: Jan Swasthya Abhiyan’s press conference on state’s response in the aftermath of Delhi violence

Dr Harinder Bhatti recounts transporting a man with bullet injury to a bigger hospital.

2.52 pm: Kejriwal announced Rs 1 crore compensation and job for IB staffer’s family

CM Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that the Delhi government had decided to give Rs 1 crore and a job as compensation to the family of IB staffer Ankit Sharma, who was one among the 47 killed in the riots .

Sharma’s body was found in a drain near his home in Chand Bagh on February 26.

2.31 pm: Lok Sabha adjourned

As Opposition protests continued in the Lok Sabha, Union ministers made taunts at them during the discussion on the Finance ministry’s Vivaad se Vishwaas Bill.

Lok Sabha was adjourned as Opposition refused to stop sloganeering.

2.30pm: Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day

Opposition members crowd the well of house in the Rajya Sabha chanting ‘Hallo bol’.

2.23 pm: Parliamentary affairs minister accuses Opposition of instigating riots

As opposition demands Amit Shah’s resignation, Parliamentary affairs minister accuses them of instigating riots. “Priority of the house restoration of normalcy. The people who let 3,000 die in 1984 are today not letting the House function,” the minister says.

2.10 pm: Uproar in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

Opposition benches chant ‘we want justice’ as Lok Sabha speaker calls for calm.

“The country’s people are watching you,” Om Birla says.

1.27 pm: Karnataka minister wants shoot at sight law for people who “shout slogans against India”

1.13 pm: People were killed in Delhi because of CAA, says Mamata

"Union Home Minister Amit Shah should keep in mind it is because of CAA that so many people were killed in Delhi," Mamata Banerjee says.

1.04 pm: Kolkata will not tolerate slogans like ‘goli maro’, says Mamata

The Bengal CM said she condemned  those who raised “goli maro...” slogan on the streets of Kolkata. Three BJP workers were arrested for raising the slogan on the way to home minister Amit Shah’s rally in the city on Sunday.

“This is not Delhi, will not tolerate slogans like ‘goli maro’ in Kolkata,” Mamata said on Monday, PTI quoted.

1.01 pm: Violence in Delhi was genocide, says Mamata Banerjee

“The violence in Delhi was genocide. I am deeply pained by the killing of innocent people,” West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said at a mass outreach programme ‘Banglar Gorbo Mamata’ (Bengal’s pride Mamata), in Kolkata.

Banerjee held one minute of silence for the victims of violence.

12.48 pm: Delhi LG meets Modi

Delhi LG Anil Baijal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for almost an hour and they are likely to have discussed the violence in the national capital, PTI reported.

Baijal did not reveal what was discussed at the meeting.

12.36 pm: This was not a riot, this was a genocide, says Asaduddin Owaisi

“All the PM did was to tweet. Why can’t the PM speak on the violence? PM knows that a former MLA was the one who incited the violence. We all know what Anurag Thakur also said,” AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said, according to News18 .

“My MLA (Waris Pathan) made comments and we reprimanded him. What has this government done to its leaders?” Owaisi asked.

12.13 pm: Delhi peace committee meet at 3pm, News18 reports

A nine-member Delhi peace committee will meet at 3 pm at the Delhi Secretariat.

According to ANI , the committee constituted by Delhi Assembly will be headed by AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, and includes MLAs Atishi and Raghav Chadha. 

11.34 am: We want Amit Shah to resign, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor

Tharoor said, “We want the home minister to resign and for the prime minister to come to the Parliament and answer for what has happened in the capital of the country and what his government’s intentions are.”

11.23 am: Rajya Sabha also adjourned till 2pm amid Opposition demand for discussion

Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu said: “The matter deserves to be discussed, but priority should be to see normalcy is restored and to take preventive measures.”

As Opposition members raised their voice, demanding a discussion, Naidu said: “I want us to speak in one voice to bring about stable situation.”

Naidu said he would speak to the leader of the house and of the opposition to decide on a time for discussion.

He adjourned the house till 2pm as Opposition members continued to clamour for immediate discussion.

11.04 am: Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 pm

The Lok Sabha was adjourned after the Speaker read out a condolence message for a sitting member.

AAP MPs are protesting on Parliament premises, ANI reports.

TMC MPs have worn black bands over their eyes with fingers on their lips, as they protest the government response to the Delhi riots, NDTV visuals showed.

10.53 am: Courts have never been able to prevent such things, says CJI Bobde

According to LiveLaw , Senior Advocate Collin Gonsalves told a CJI-led bench of the Supreme Court that five people had died on on Sunday.

On hate speech by BJP leaders like Anurag Thakur and Kapil Mishra, CJI SA Bobde said says that these situations are beyond the control of the court. 

Bar&Bench reports the SC will hear the plea on Wednesday, March 4.

10.32 am: Harsh Mander moves SC for immediate registration of FIRs against Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur

The Delhi high court had adjourned the plea seeking action against BJP leaders for allegedly making hate speeches by 4 weeks. 

10.02am: Kejriwal asks people to use #DelhiRelief to reach state govt

The newly-elected Kejriwal government has been criticised for inadequate relief efforts in thr riot-affected areas.

9.43 am: Section 144 at Shaheen Bagh 

9.24 am: Muslim BJP leader says mob torched his, relatives’ houses

A Muslim BJP leader said his and some of his relatives’ houses were burnt down by rampaging mobs on February 25.

Akhtar Raza, the district vice president of BJP’s minority cell, told PTI that a crowd had gathered in his neighbourhood in Bhagirath Vihar in the evening and within a couple of hours mayhem ensued.

“The crowd raised religious slogans and began setting houses on fire. There are 19 houses belonging to Muslims in the area including mine and three of my relatives... all were burnt down,” he said.

Raza alleged most of the rioters were outsiders. As he along with 12 of his family members were fleeing their burning home, they were pelted with stones by the mob, he alleged.

“I sought the help of police but was told that the force was short-staffed. I did not receive any phone call or relief from the party but I have been assured of justice,” he said.

8.57 am: Parliament likely to discuss Delhi riots today

Opposition MPs have given notices in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to discuss the Delhi riots. 

“We are ready for discussion on any issue as per the rules of the house and provided the speaker gives permission for it. But first we all should ensure the passage of the budget which is constitutional responsibility for all of us,” Union Parliamentary Affairs minister Arjun Ram Meghwal told PTI.

What happened over the weekend?

The Parliament is back in session and is likely to discuss the violence in the capital last week. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Arjun Ram Meghwal said that there should be a debate over the issue but opposition should not play politics over Delhi violence in the session.

Faizan, the 23-year-old Muslim man who was filmed as he was brutally assaulted by policemen who forced him to sing the national anthem between beatings, died after the Delhi Police  illegally detained him for over 36 hours and denied him urgent medical attention, HuffPost India’s report finds. Read full story here .

Six people were detained after ‘goli maaron’ slogans were raised at the Delhi metro’s Rajiv chowk station.

BJP workers raised the same chants on the way to home minister Amit Shah’s rally in Kolkata on Sunday.

Shah, whose party leaders have been accused of hate speech and instigating the Delhi riots, claimed West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was “triggering riots” and “burning trains” in protest against CAA.

Delhi Police made a heavy deployment of security personnel in the Shaheen Bagh area, where several women have been leading a peaceful protest on the road against the Citizenship Amendment Act for more than two months, as a precautionary measure on Sunday, officials said. The police deployment has come after a fringe right-wing group, Hindu Sena, gave a call to clear the Shaheen Bagh road on March 1. However on Saturday, with the intervention of police, they called off their proposed protest against the anti-CAA agitation in Shaheen Bagh. 

Union minister Anurag Thakur, who led a ‘Desh ke gaddaron ko’ chant at a polly rally, claimed journalists were lying about his use of hate speech during Delhi elections. He then went on to demand strict action against those involved in the communal riots.

Bengal BJP leader Subhadra Mukherjee resigned , saying she did not want to be associated with “this brand of politics” where people can be judged by their religion and not as fellow humans.