House row over tribute to soldiers -TMC demanded obituary for 82 died due to demonetisation

School students in Moradabad pay tribute to the army personnel
killed in Nagrota. (PTI)

TT, New Delhi, Nov. 30: The Nagrota army camp attack rocked Parliament today with the Opposition staging a walkout in the Lok Sabha demanding obituary references to the slain soldiers.

The government accused the Opposition of playing politics with soldiers' deaths. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said obituary references could not be made today as combing operations by the army were on.

"Obituary references are always made... If combing operation is on, let it complete and we will," the Speaker said.

The Opposition, however, did not buy the Speaker's argument and staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha during Question Hour. MPs from the Congress, Trinamul, RJD and some other parties were among the protesters.

In the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition tried to corner the government over the continued killing of soldiers since the September 29 surgical strikes. It demanded that obituary references be made and compensation be paid to 82 people killed post the demonetisation decision.

"Twenty-five army personnel have been killed since the surgical strikes. Similarly, 82 common people have become martyrs after demonetisation. The House must pass obituary references for all of them," Sukhendu Sekhar Roy of Trinamul demanded.

Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati too said many soldiers had been killed in terrorist attacks. She said about 90 people had died after demonetisation and the government must clarify this. The twin demands were supported by the leader of Opposition, Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley, the leader of the Rajya Sabha, said the government was ready to discuss the issues relating to the border situation. "The issues raised by members relate to demonetisation and the border situation. Discussion has already started on the currency issue. If the Opposition wants, the government is ready for a discussion on the border situation," Jaitley said.

Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav said the family members of each of those killed in queue should get Rs 10 lakh in compensation. "They died while standing in queue to exchange their hard-earned money. There have been cases of misuse of documents of poor people to convert black money to white."

In the Lok Sabha, the issue again came up during Zero Hour when the House reassembled after adjournment. Congress leader in the House Mallikarjun Kharge blamed the government for not providing inputs to the Speaker for the obituary references to soldiers killed in the Nagrota attack.

The Speaker denied this and defended the government. "There is no question of the government in this. Obituary references come from my side and since the combing operation was on I decided not do it today," the Speaker said.

"Today, we wanted to have an obituary reference for the jawans. Our walking out was not an attempt to hurt you. If it hurt you, we express our regret," Trinamul leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said.

Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar termed the Opposition's walkout unfortunate and said no politics should be played over the security of the country.

Both Houses continued to be paralysed over the demonetisation issue and the Nargrota terror attack with the Opposition demanding a discussion under a rule that entails voting.