Congress-BJP Clash In Parliamentary Panel Over Pellet Gun, 1984 Riots
· India · Times of India, Indian Express
A meeting of the parliamentary committee on home affairs on Tuesday turned contentious after Congress MP Ajay Maken, backed by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut, sought a discussion on Delhi Police's alleged use of pellet guns and nail-fitted batons against students marching to Parliament on July 20. BJP MP Tarun Chugh countered by demanding the panel take up the alleged glorification of 1984 anti-Sikh riots convict Sajjan Kumar, who died last week while serving his sentence, accusing Congress MP Deepender Hooda of being laudatory in his tribute. Committee chairperson Radha Mohan Das Agrawal ruled that off-agenda items would not be discussed but said SOPs for use of force against protesters would be taken up later. The exchange underscores the deep partisan fault lines within parliamentary panels, with each side weaponising the other's historical controversies.
Why it matters
The clash stalls any immediate parliamentary scrutiny of police conduct during the July 20 student protest, and the BJP's invocation of 1984 keeps the Sikh riots controversy politically alive in Parliament. For opposition MPs, the episode limits their ability to use committee hearings to raise policing issues outside the formal agenda.
Read the original report — Times of India
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