The Lok Sabha session started on Monday and was adjourned after the opposition created an uproar in the House. The opposition questioned the House whether ‘South Indians are not a part of India?’ This question arose after the comments of former MP Tarun Vijay at the Al Jazeera debate about Racism in India.
The former MP said that Indians cannot be called racist as they live alongside South Indians, who are black people. This issue was brought to notice of the parliamentarians by the Congress MPs. They said that the ruling party BJP must make Vijay apologise for his remarks. The opposition started shouting slogans which disrupted the proceedings leading to the House being adjourned. The same topic was once again raised during the question hour when the House met again.
The Speaker Sumitra Mahajan resumed the proceedings after 10 minutes after which slogans were once again raised against Vijay. Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of Congress in Lok Sabha asked if the BJP considered South Indians not as Indians. He asked, “Are people living in South India part of (the) Country or not? This shows your mentality, do you want to divide India? What action are you going to take? Otherwise we will have to agitate not only inside but outside too.”
In defense of Tarun Vijay, the Home Minister Rajnath Singh addressing the Lok Sabha said, “India is a secular Country, discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, religion and color cannot be tolerated. Tarun Vijay has apologised and said this is indefensible.” The house was adjourned for the day after the opposition went out of control at the speaker.
