Chaos in Indian Parliament over Force-feeding of Muslim
Opposition lawmakers in the Lok Sabha, the parliament’s lower house, on Wednesday waved copies of the English-language newspaper that carried the claims and demanded a debate on the scandal.
The Indian Express reported that Arshad Zubair, a Muslim catering supervisor at the Maharashtra state government’s official guest house in Delhi, was forced to devour the traditional bread by a group of parliamentarians from the Shiv Sena party, which forms part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led federal government.
The newspaper said the lawmakers complained about the quality of their meals and the lack of specialities from their home state during their stay.
The incident last Thursday was caught on camera and has led to opposition parties, led by the Congress Party, to complain about a “violation" of the supervisor’s religious beliefs.
The lower house was adjourned as Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu – also leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, known as the BJP – said the issue should not be raised until the full facts could be presented.
The Congress Party claims sectarianism among right-wing Hindus had been encouraged by the BJP’s election victory in May.
“The incident which took place at Maharashtra Sadan involving BJP’s ally Shiv Sena MPs is a crude, crass and callous face of Indian politics,” Congress Party spokesperson Sanjay Jha wrote on Twitter.
Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray said there was no intention to hurt religious sentiments and that the party’s version of events was being suppressed.
The company running the canteen, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, halted service at the guest house in protest. It also wrote a letter of complaint to the guest house commissioner saying Zubair was “deeply pained and hurt.” The commissioner has apologized to the corporation.
Source: World Bulletin
