______SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE ______(Proceedings other than Questions and Answers) ______Friday, July 23, 2021 / Shravana 01, 1943 (Saka) ______OBITUARY REFERENCES MR. CHAIRMAN: Hon. Members, I refer with profound sorrow to the passing away of Shri S. Agniraj and Shri Vijay Singh Yadav, former Members of this House. Shri S. Agniraj passed away on the 22nd of November, 2020, at the age of 87 years. Born in July, 1933, at Kuthiarkundu in Madurai District of Tamil Nadu, Shri Agniraj was educated at the Madura College, Madurai. An agriculturist, Shri Agniraj was an ardent promoter of the Tamil language. He served as a Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, from 1967 to 1971. Shri S. Agniraj represented the State of Tamil Nadu in this House, from June, 1998 to June, 2004. In the passing away of Shri S. Agniraj, the country has lost a champion of Tamil language and also an able parliamentarian.

______This Synopsis is not an authoritative record of the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha. 44

Shri Vijay Singh Yadav passed away on the 16th of May, 2021, at the age of 68 years. Born in January, 1953, in , , Shri Vijay Singh Yadav was educated at the B. S. College, Danapur. A social worker, Shri Yadav served as a Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly, from 1996 to 2000. Shri Vijay Singh Yadav represented the State of Bihar in this House, from April, 2000 to April, 2006. In the passing away of Shri Vijay Singh Yadav, the country has lost an able parliamentarian. We deeply mourn the passing away of Shri S. Agniraj and Shri Vijay Singh Yadav. (One Minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed.) ______

OBSERVATIONS BY THE CHAIR MR. CHAIRMAN: Hon. Members, I rise in deep anguish over the course of events during the first three sittings of this Monsoon Session in this august House. I am not able to understand why the House is not being allowed to discharge its responsibility as mandated by the Constitution. It is even more difficult to understand why the people of our country are being denied their due from the highest legislature of our country in this hour of stress. The moot question is: Who would benefit from a dysfunctional Parliament? Certainly, not the country and its people! I am not sure if those who are behind the disruptions would benefit from the crippling of Parliament. In the meeting of the leaders chaired by me on 17th of this month, all sections of the House expressed a keen desire to have a productive session and even sought each other's cooperation in this regard. Happy over such noble intentions, I have urged the leaders to

45 walk their talk by enabling smooth functioning of the House. But the course of events over the last few days brought out the gap between the noble intentions and the real actions. It is really despairing. The only Business that could be transacted so far was four-hour discussion on Covid-19 issues and the hour-long reply by the concerned Minister. Since the discussion could take place, the leaders and Members could place on record their views and concerns over the management of the pandemic besides highlighting the shortcomings and suggesting a way forward. There lies the beauty of having such a discussion. Why not more of them in this House? The people at large also appreciated the discussion on Covid-19 in Rajya Sabha and the manner in which most of the hon. Members spoke. The Minister of Information Technology was scheduled to make a statement on 'Pegasus spyware' issue. I made it clear in the BAC meeting yesterday that thereafter Members may seek clarification which would enable them to address their concerns in the matter. Even if they are not satisfied with that, there would be scope to discuss because I have already mentioned that the leaders and the Government can sit together if there are further issues, find a way out and then, get back to me. Unfortunately, the proceedings of House hit a new low with the papers being snatched from the Minister, torn into pieces and thrown into the air. Such actions are a clear assault on our parliamentary democracy. They do not cover the world's largest democracy to glory. Should the Members of Parliament be party to degrading the country standing on the world stage? I have even suggested to the Government and the Opposition to sit together and prioritize Legislative and other agenda for the remainder of the Session. Some Opposition leaders have appreciated the suggestion but, to my dismay, the things turned out to be different in the House. The turn of events in the House brings us to the question of what drives the disruption in the Parliament. It is only political and grandstanding. I have stressed on the eve of the Session, Parliament is much more than a political institution given its constitutional mandate but there seems to be scant respect for the constitutional sanctity of Parliament. It is very, very unfortunate.

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Hon. Members, you are the custodians of our Parliamentary democracy. The entire country, including State Legislatures, are looking to both the Houses of Parliament for guidance and this has been clearly acknowledged by one and all. The Parliamentarians speak for the people and the States they represent. Disrupting the House is, certainly, no way of doing justice for which you all are here. I fervently appeal to all sections of the House to enable smooth functioning of the House by rising above the political considerations. If at all, there are many disruptions, that will only halt the march of our nation besides letting people down. Hon. Members, three weeks from now, we will be entering the 75th year of our hard fought Independence. The spirit of its celebrations should not be marred by dysfunctional Parliament. Our freedom struggle was all for the self-governance with our people as the masters but what is being witnessed in the Parliament is too contrary. This does not resonate with the movement of 75 years of our freedom from colonial rule. As the Chairman of this august House, I am deeply distressed by the course of events in the House. I expect many of you to be equally anguished. If so, we shall find a way out to the present state of affairs. We are anguished and so are the people. Let the Parliament function smoothly and bring shine to the lives of the people. Whatever you want to say during the course of discussion, you are free to say it but within the permitted ambit and scope of any issue or discussion. That has to be kept in mind. ______

MOTION FOR SUSPENSION OF MEMBER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AND THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN): I move that Dr. Santanu Sen, AITC, be suspended from the services of the House for the remaining part of the current Session for his unruly behaviour, unbecoming of a Member of Rajya Sabha yesterday, the 22nd July, 2021, by snatching the copy of 47 the Statement from the Minister of Railways; Minister of Communications and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, tearing and throwing it towards the Chair, thereby, bringing disrepute to this august House. The motion was adopted. MR. CHAIRMAN: Dr. Santanu Sen stands suspended for the remaining part of the Session.

Desh Deepak Verma, Secretary-General. [email protected]

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