New Delhi: Both houses of parliament were adjourned for a short while Wednesday as opposition members sought a discussion on reports that Shiv Sena MPs forced a Muslim staff member at Maharashtra Sadan here to break his fast during Ramadan.
In the Rajya Sabha, opposition members after the question hour disrupted the proceedings of the house, forcing Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien to adjourn the house for 10 minutes.
During zero hour in the Lok Sabha, a Congress MP from Kerala sought a discussion on the issue.
Shiv Sena MP Anant Geete said that such an incident never took place.
Amid the din, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the house till 12.30 p.m.
Snubbing religious sentiments, the Shiv Sainiks forced Arshad Zubair S, who was fasting for Ramadan, to eat a chapati, according to Indian Express.
The report said a letter sent to Maharashtra chief secretary J Saharia has named the 11 Shiv Sena MPs as Sanjay Raut (Rajya Sabha), Anandrao Adsul (Amravati), Rajan Vichare (Thane), Arvind Sawant (Mumbai-South), Hemant Godse (Nashik), Krupal Tumane (Ramtek), Ravindra Gaikwad (Osmanabad), Vinayak Raut (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg), Shivaji Adhalrao Patil (Shirur), Rahul Shewale (Mumbai-South Central) and Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan).
IRCTC, the Indian Railways subsidiary that was catering for the Sadan, has stopped all operations in protest, and complained to the Maharashtra resident commissioner Bipin Mallick.
IRCTC deputy general manager Shankar Malhotra wrote an email to Mallick on July 17 saying the MPs misbehaved with the staff at the public dining and forced the resident manager Arshad to eat a chapati.
“The specific incident happened with the Resident Manager/IRCTC, Sh. Arshad who was forced to consume full chapati whilst he was having fast on the eve of Ramzan. The concerned has been deeply pained and hurt on this account as religious sentiments are attached,” Malhotra wrote.
In reaction to the incident, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Majid Memon said an investigation must take place in the case and strict action should be taken against people involved.
Nationalist Congress Party general secretary Tariq Anwar said Shiv Sena isn't a responsible party and it has always been a group of anti-social people.
Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal, meanwhile, described the incident as “highly condemnable”, adding he knows the government would not take any action against this, “but it must”.
Congress MP Milind Deora has taken a dig at Sena's Arvind Sawant, who defeated him in the national election, from the South Mumbai constituency. "South Mumbai's MP making us proud with his front page debut," he tweeted.
Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut, who was allegedly among the leaders present during the incident, has denied the allegation. "These allegations are totally baseless," he said, responding to a front-page newspaper story.
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