Monsoon session Day 1: Parliament adjourns over Manipur violence, Opposition demands PM Modi's statement

New Delhi [India], July 20 : Day one of the monsoon session of the Parliament witnessed unruly scenes amid slogneering by the opposition over Manipur violence as joint opposition sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on the issue.
Opposition parties gave notices to discuss the Manipur issue under Rule 193 in Lok Sabha. While, in Rajya Sabha, the Opposition gave notice under Rule 176 and Rule 267 to discuss the matter.
Under Rule 267, Rajya Sabha MPs can give a written notice to suspend all listed business and discuss an issue of importance the country is facing.
However, in principle, the Government has agreed to discuss the matter in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The opposition demanded detailed discussion on Manipur violence following the viral video of the naked women being paraded, by suspending other listed business even as the government expressed its willingness to discuss the matter.
Proceedings in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were disrupted and adjourned for the day with opposition MPs creating an uproar and demanding a discussion in Parliament over Manipur issue.The Parliament will resume on Friday.
The Rajya Sabha witnessed two adjournments before it was adjourned for the day. The Upper House was first adjourned till 12 noon following obituary references and then till 2 pm over the opposition’s demand related to Manipur violence.
TMC leader Derek O'Brien in Rajya Sabha demanded discussion and said, 'We want a discussion on Manipur, PM Modi has to open his mouth on Manipur.' He said that discussion on Manipur should be conducted under the 267 rule.
Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm following obituary references and later for the day over the Opposition's demand for a discussion on Manipur violence.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the violence that has been ongoing in Manipur for the past two months.
Speaking on the video that showed two women being paraded naked in Manipur, the prime minister said, "I am filled with pain and the incident is shameful for any civil society."
"No accused will spared, we will never forgive those who are behind this," he said.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the Monsoon session of the Parliament that begins today,PM Modi said, "This a shameful incident for any society..who did this and who is responsible is another issue but this has put our nation to shame. I appeal to all chief minsters to tighten law and order. Whether it is Rajasthan, Chattisgarh or Manipur...the issue of a woman's honour is above all politics.
Several opposition MPs have given notices in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha demanding discussions on the situation in Manipur arising from a fresh controversy as a video of two women being paraded naked surfaced and was widely circulated.
The women were allegedly gang-raped and the Manipur Police police said an investigation is on.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh has given a suspension of Business Notice in Rajya Sabha under rule 267. and demanded to discussion on Manipur violence.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi and AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi have moved adjournment motions in Lok Sabha over the issue.
Congress' Manickam Tagore gave adjournment motion notices in Lok Sabha on the Manipur situation demanding a discussion on the "violence against women and children in the northeastern state."
CPI MP Binoy Viswam, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha and Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan also gave suspension of Business Notices in the the Upper House under rule 267, to discuss the Manipur situation.
Meanwhile, according to sources, the Centre has asked Twitter and other social media platforms to pull down the video of the two Manipur women paraded naked as the matter is under investigation.
The Congress continued to target the BJP-led government over the situation in Manipur and said the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament was washed out as the ruling alliance did not agree to opposition parties’ demand for an immediate discussion on the situation in the state.
Following the adjournment of Rajya Sabha for the day, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that the Congress and opposition parties have made up their mind to not let the Parliament function smoothly.
Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm and then after it resumed Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge said he has been demanding a discussion on the Manipur issue since morning but has not been allowed one. Dhankhar asked Opposition members to maintain decorum, but continuous sloganeering forced him to adjourn the House for the day.
Union Minister said, "After seeing the opposition's attitude it becomes clear that they have made up their mind to not let the Parliament function smoothly."
He alleged that the opposition parties are disrupting the proceedings of the House, even after the Central government said that it is ready to discuss the Manipur incidents.
"The Central government made it clear that we are ready to discuss the Manipur incidents, despite it, the Congress and other opposition parties disrupted the proceedings of the House and did not let discussions take place as per the rules. This makes it clear that they absolutely do not want the Parliament to function..." Goyal added.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal earlier said, "The session of Parliament is going on and during the All Party meeting also we discussed it. We asked the opposition also that we are ready for discussion. But they only want to create disturbance."
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said he had received 12 notices under Rule 176 for short-duration discussion and the government had also expressed its willingness for discussion on the situation in Manipur.
The Chairman said he had also received notices for discussion pertaining to rail safety and the unemployment situation. He said the government is ready for discussion on Manipur under Rule 176.
Soon after the House reassembled at 2 pm and papers were laid on the table, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said he was not given chance to speak on the subject raised under Rule 267.
He said Manipur is burning, and PM Modi had spoken outside the House on Thursday. “Manipur is burning. Women are raped, naked, paraded and the PM is keeping quiet and is giving statements outside,” he said.
Other members also sought to raise their demands. Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the House for the day following the din.
Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh said the opposition parties are also demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in Parliament before the discussion.
“So the first day of the Monsoon session of Parliament was washed out. This was because the Modi govt did not agree to INDIA's demand for an immediate discussion on the post-May 3rd situation in Manipur following a statement by the PM INSIDE Parliament,” he said in a tweet.
“The PM deemed it more appropriate to give a Desh ke Naam Sandesh via the media OUTSIDE Parliament before the two Houses met. This Sandesh itself was completely silent on how and why a humanitarian tragedy was allowed by the so-called double engine sarkar which has all but destroyed the delicate social fabric of Manipur,” he added.
Derek O’Brien of Trinamool Congress said that they had given notices under Rule 267 for discussion on the Manipur situation over ethnic violence in the state.
The opposition members demanded PM Modi’s statement in the House and a detailed discussion on Manipur violence by suspending other business of the day even as the government expressed its willingness to discuss the matter under short duration discussion.
Meanwhile, a bill which aims to curb piracy in film content and protect the creative industry was introduced in Rajya Sabha.
The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2023 was introduced in the House by Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur amid din by opposition members on their demand for a discussion on the situation in Manipur.
Anurag Thakur moved a motion to withdraw Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which was approved by the House amid din. He later introduced the new bill.
The bill is aimed at ensuring that the film content does not suffer due to piracy as the menace causes heavy loss to the industry.
Thakur had said earlier that the bill will also prove to be a “revolutionary step” towards promoting Indian films and helping local content go global.
“The Indian film industry is a crucial part of our cultural heritage, but piracy has been a constant threat to it. The Union Cabinet’s approval of Cinematography Act 2023, is a major step forward towards safeguarding and promoting the film industry,” he said.
“The bill, which has been drafted after thorough consultation with the stakeholders, incorporating best practices, will be introduced in the next session of parliament. It will also prove to be a revolutionary step towards promoting Indian films & helping local content go global.
“The fight against piracy is a global one but we’re determined to protect our creative industry by simplifying laws & improving the ease of doing business in India. Our efforts have resulted in a significant improvement in our rankings benefitting citizens & businesses alike,” he added.
The minister also said that best practices across the world have been taken into consideration while drafting the legislation.
Officials said that the bill has provisions for categorising films based on age group, rather than the current practice of ‘U,’ ‘A,’ and ‘UA’.
The Bill seeks to amend the Cinematograph Act, of 1954.
The government had introduced a bill in the Rajya Sabha in 2019 and it was sent to the Standing Committee for scrutiny.
Moreover, in a historic move, Rajya Sabha has brought gender parity with nominations of 50 per cent of women members to the panel of Vice-Chairperson by reconstitution of the post.
The panel reconstituted before the Monsoon Session contains a total of eight names, out of which half are women. This is the first time in the history of the Upper House that equal representation has been given to women members in the panel of Vice-Chairpersons.
The announcements regarding the nominations of the four women Parliamentarians to the panel of Vice-Chairpersons were made by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday when the House assembled at 12 noon on day one of the Monsoon Session.
All the women members nominated to the panel are first-term Parliamentarians and S Phangnon Konyak became the first woman from Nagaland nominated to the panel of Vice-Chairpersons. Konyak is also the first woman from Nagaland to be elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Padma Shri awardee and renowned athlete PT Usha along with S. Phangnon Konyak, Fauzia Khan and Sulata Deo are among the women members nominated to the panel of Vice-Chairpersons.
PT Usha was nominated to Rajya Sabha in July 2022. She is a member of the Committee on Defense, the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Committee on Ethics.
S Phangnon Konyak belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party. She is the first woman to be elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Nagaland in April 2022 and the second woman from the State to be elected to either the House of the Parliament or the state assembly. She is a member of the Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, the Committee on Empowerment of Women, the House Committee and Member, Governing Council of the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, Shillong.
Fauzia Khan belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party. She was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 2020. She is a member of the Committee on Empowerment of Women, Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Law and Justice.
Sulata Deo belongs to Biju Janata Dal. She was elected to Rajya Sabha in July 2022. She is a member of the Committee on Industry, Committee on Empowerment of Women, Joint Committee on Office of Profit, Committee on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) and Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Apart from these women members, V Vijayasai Reddy, Ghanshyam Tiwari, L Hanumanthaiah and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray have also been nominated to the panel of Vice Chairpersons. 
Meanwhile, in another notable development, the Rajya Sabha chair has become fully digital from this Monsoon Session.
The Rajya Sabha chair will be using electronic tablets for matters related to the conduct of business in the House, attendance in the House, details of Members speaking and other relevant information.
The credit goes to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar as he had used an I-pad to conduct the proceedings of the Upper House on the second last day of the Budget session conducted a few months ago this year, marking the beginning of a paperless tradition by the chair of the House.
As the Rajya Sabha goes fully digital officials said, it resulted in hour-long separate meetings conducted with several officials from various wings of the RS Secretariat.
In April, the Rajya Sabha Chairman also asked his officials to prepare themselves for a paperless Parliament in the days to come.
As the new Parliament Building is going to be “technology-driven and paperless”, Dhankhar had held an extensive meeting in April with senior officials from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat and asked them to upskill themselves in the interim. 
The monsoon session of Parliament will continue till August 11. There will be a total of 17 sittings during the session. It will commence in the old Parliament Building.