Ruckus in Gujarat Assembly over Amarnath killings

By Our Special Correspondent

GANDHINAGAR, SEPT. 28. The monsoon session of the Gujarat Assembly began here today on a stormy note with the ruling and Opposition party members shouting slogans against each other, forcing three adjournments. Two Opposition members were suspended for the day for displaying placards.

Trouble started during the question hour with the leader of the Opposition, Mr. Amarsinh Chaudhary, holding the Health Minister, Mr. Ashok Bhatt, responsible for the killing of the Amarnath pilgrims, who included a large number from Gujarat, by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and the Minister refuting the charge.

As all Congress(I) members were on their feet, shouting slogans such as ``Ashok Bhatt is the killer of Hindus in Jammu,'' the BJP members came to the Minister's rescue, shouting counter-slogans. As the disturbance continued, the Speaker, Mr. Dhirubhai Shah, adjourned the House for 10 minutes.

The situation did not improve after it reassembled. Mr. Bhatt accused Mr. Chaudhary of having engineered communal disturbances during the 1985 rathyatra in Ahmedabad in which about 200 people were killed, in a bid to destabilise the then Madhavsinh Solanki Government in which he (Mr. Chaudhary) was Home Minister.

Even before the noise subsided, the Minister of State for Home, Mr. Haren Pandya, replying to a question about the ruling party's call for a bandh against the Amarnath killings which whipped communal tensions, charged the Congress(I) with giving ``indirect'' support to terrorists and pro-Pakistani forces. Noisy protests from the Opposition forced the Speaker to adjourn the House for 15 minutes.

When it met again, the Congress(I) members picked up the case of alleged delay in tabling the report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General claiming that the ruling party was trying to ``hide'' it because it had reportedly castigated the Government on certain corruption charges. The opposition members shouting slogans and thumping desks forced a third adjournment.

The trouble started again during the discussion on a calling attention motion on the drought situation. Dissatisfied with the assurance given by the Revenue Minister, Mr. Vajubhai Vala, about the preparations to meet the situation in view of monsoon failure, the Congress(I) members shouted slogans and two of them displayed a placard.

As the members refused to resume their seats, the Speaker accepted the suggestion of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Suresh Mehta, and suspended Mr. Dhirubhai Bhill and Mr. Kunwarbhai Babariya.

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Section  : Other States
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