Never in history of Parliament words were used against minority community member: Adhir to Om Birla

New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Congress Lok Sabha MP, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, on Friday wrote to Speaker Om Birla for the derogatory words used against BSP MP Danish Ali by BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri, saying "never in the history of Parliament have such words been used against member of a minority community" and it reflects the mindset against the Opposition and the minority community.

He also said that expunging the remarks from the records of the House has no meaningful impact and it would only be appropriate to have the matter examined in detail by the Privileges Committee and punitive action taken against Bidhuri.

In his letter to Birla, Chowdhury added: "I am compelled to, and in fact, feel it to be my bound duty to impress upon you the need for taking stringent action as per the rules against BJP MP Bidhuri for using brazenly abusive and unparliamentary words against  member of a leading political party, Danish Ali, who also happens to be from the minority community."

The Congress MP said that more regrettable is the fact that this unprecedented, unfortunate and unsavoury incident has happened during the Special session of the Parliament that has been convened to commemorate 75 years of its history and that too, during the course of the discussion to mark the success of 'Mission Chandrayaan-3'.

"Never in the history of Parliament have such words been used against member of a minority community, and that too in the presence of the Speaker. Although you have warned Bidhuri, and expunged the uncouth words that were used by him against Ali, the utterances of the member are all over the media," Chowdhury added.

He said that it reflects poorly on the Parliament and its sanctity. 

"The incident also reflects the mindset against the Opposition and the minority community," the Congress leader said, adding that with all of us being a witness to the incident, which has been recorded in the print and visual media, expunging the remarks from the records of the House has no meaningful impact.

"Considering the circumstances and the brazen violation of all norms and rules relating to the functioning of the House, it would only be appropriate to have the matter examined in detail by the Privileges Committee and punitive action taken against the errant member Bidhuri," Chowdhury demanded.

Bidhuri, who is a BJP MP from South Delhi on Thursday, while participating in the discussion on 'Chandrayaan-3' in Lok Sabha, used abusive and derogatory language against BSP MP Danish Ali.

His remarks were later expunged from the records.

Earlier on Friday, Ali wrote a letter to Speaker Birla to refer his case to the Privileges Committee and also urged him to order an inquiry into the matter.

The BJP has also issued a showcause notice to party MP Bidhuri for using unparliamentary words against the BSP MP in Lok Sabha. Bidhuri's remark sparked outrage, with the opposition leaders calling for strict action against him.

Many opposition leaders condemned the language of Bidhuri against the BSP MP in the Lok Sabha and demanded his suspension.

Earlier on Friday, Speaker Birla took "serious note" of objectionable comments made by Bidhuri in the House and warned him of "strict action" if such behaviour is repeated in the future.