Govt agrees to penalise SP chief for anti-national remarks

Govt agrees to penalise SP chief for anti-national remarks
PRAFULLA MARPAKWAR

MUMBAI, MARCH 14: Even as the aggressive Sena-BJP opposition declared that it will stall the proceedings in both the Houses of the State Legislature till its demands were met, it scored a major victory when the Congress-led Democratic Front conceded its demand to book Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi for his alleged anti-national remarks.

``The J J Marg police station has suo moto registered an offence under section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code (inciting communal feelings) read with section 34 (common intention) against Abu Asim Azmi and four office bearers of the Samajwadi Party. Once the investigations are complete, police will take appropriate action against Azmi and his colleagues,'' Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said.

Bhujbal said the Home department has verified the speech delivered by Azmi at a party workers rally at Mastan Talao on February 24 and has come to the conclusion that his remarks attract the provisions of the IPC. Significantly, on Sunday, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had specifically said that if the report submitted by the police is to be believed, then there was nothing objectionable in the utterances of the Samajwadi Party leader.

Earlier, agitated Sena-BJP members in both the Houses not only stalled the proceedings, but also took out a mock funeral in the Lower House to press their demand for immediate arrest of Azmi, restoration of security cover for Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and immediate payment to the cotton as well as onion growers.

When the House assembled for the day, Leader of Opposition Narayan Rane demanded that the question hour should be suspended to discuss the anti-national remarks of Azmi, drastic reduction in the security cover for Thackeray, suicide by 13 farmers and failure of the government to make payment to the cotton as well as onion growers.

``On one hand the Congress-led Democratic Front government was protecting Aby Asim Azmi despite his anti-national remarks, on the other hand, it was reducing security cover for patriotic persons like Thackeray mainly to settle political scores,'' Rane said.

Endorsing the statement of Rane, former deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde said it was unfortunate that a person who was one of the accused in the serial bomb blast case was now not only the important functionary of the Congress-led DF government, but the member of the coordination committee set up to draft the policy of the new government.

Launching a frontal attack on the Deshmukh government, Munde alleged that despite suicide by 13 farmers, the government has not taken any steps to raise Rs 950 crore for the cotton growers and Rs 90 crore for the onion growers.

Both Rane and Munde warned that they will stall the proceedings of the Lower House unless their demands were accepted. Even as Munde was on his feet, Sena-BJP members resorted to intense sloganeering and later took out a mock funeral to protest against the government for its failure to understand the plight of the cotton and onion growers. While noisy scenes continued, Speaker Arun Gujarathi, who described the incident as unfortunate, conducted the business amid din. In the process, Higher and Technical Education Minister Dilip Walse Patil introduced the bill to post the elections to the bodies of the non-agriculture universities.

In the Upper House, Leader of Opposition Nitin Gadkari raised the issue of Abu Asim Azmi, security cover for Bal Thackeray and plight of onion and cotton growers.

Later, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said it was unfortunate that the opposition parties, instead of discussing, resorted to extreme step of stalling the proceedings in both the Houses. ``Whether it is the issue of security cover for Thackeray, utterances of Abu Asim Azmi or the plight of the cotton and onion growers, they will not be able to solve them by stalling the proceedings, but only through a debate,'' Deshmukh said.

Deshmukh said his government was prepared for debate on any of the issues raised by the opposition by setting aside the agenda before the House. ``We have requested the Speaker to suspend the question hour for tomorrow to discuss the points raised by the opposition,'' Deshmukh said.

The Chief Minister assured that entire payment to cotton and onion growers will be made within next two to three days, since the district central cooperative banks have agreed to provide the required funds.

``I feel that the farmers have no complaint against the government since they understand the financial situation of the state,'' Deshmukh remarked.