Attack on north Indians in Mumbai rock Parliament

Members from JD(U), RJD and Samajwadi Party, most of them belonging to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, expressed grave concern over the attack on North Indians in Maharashtra and said it posed threat to national unity and integrity.

Shiv Sena leader Anant Gite sought to downplay the issue, saying it has been exaggerated and said North Indians in Mumbai and other parts of the state were not under threat.

His statements on the issue evoked strong protests from several members, leading to an abrupt adjournment of the House for ten minutes.

When the House reassembled later, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who since morning was unhappy with the demeanour of the Members, strongly denounced statements intended to divide the country and said, "I cannot be party to it. I express my strong disapproval." The issue led to an impromptu discussion during Question Hour, as Prabhunath Singh of JD(U) insisted that he wanted to raise the matter and he had given a notice for suspension of Question Hour.

Accusing the state government and the Centre of not taking prompt action against Thackeray, he said the MNS chief should be booked under MCOCCA.

Among the prominent leaders who were present in the House during the discussion were Union Ministers Lalu Prasad and Sharad Pawar.

BJP's Shahnawaz Hussain accused the Congress of conspiring to give publicity to the MNS president. "I am not levelling allegations against anyone. I am only fixing accountability on the government," he said.

"The UPA Government at the Centre overlooked the matter for long and Thackeray got undue publicity," he said.

Ramjilal Suman of Samajwadi Party criticised the state government's handling of the situation, saying it should have dealt with the guilty quickly.