Minister Sudhangshu Das
Credit: X/@MinSudhangshu
Agartala: Tripura Assembly on Wednesday witnessed uproarious scenes as the opposition Congress protested against minister Sudhangshu Das' statement on a controversial post on Facebook.
Congress MLAs demonstrated in the Well of the House and staged a walkout after Das described the party as "anti-Hindu".
In the September 1 post which he deleted later, the minister said, "In my view, the Hindus have no right to offer prayers to gods and goddesses because those people who can't protect their temples and gods, don't deserve to organise prayer or puja." Though he did not mention any context for the statement, it was posted days after an idol of the Goddess Kali was found defaced in a temple in the Durganagar area in West Tripura district. Following the incident, several houses were set on fire by unidentified miscreants on the night of August 25.
Soon after question hour on Wednesday, Congress MLA Birajit Sinha raised the issue in the House and sought a statement from Das.
Party legislator Sudip Roy Barman while condemning the post said, "A minister took oath swearing the Constitution cannot make such a post on the social media. India is guided by the Constitution. I exhort him to apologise for that." Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sushanta Chowdhury, who came to the rescue of Das from the opposition's attack, said the minister's "feelings" should be considered.
"Following repentance, he (Sudhangshu) withdrew the post. The members of the House must understand the feelings of the minister who made the post."
"There has been no instance in Tripura where minority people are subjected to oppression. The government is working for 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'. But it is Congress which had made a member of 'tukde tukde' gang candidate from New Delhi constituency," he said, without naming Kanhaiya Kumar.
During a debate on the issue, Das said thousands of Hindus were uprooted during the 1971 war.
"As many as 6 lakh Kashmiri pandits were driven out of Jammu & Kashmir and the man who was behind the move was awarded by the former Prime Minister," he said triggering strong protests from the Congress.
In protest, the three Congress MLAs walked out of the House for 10 minutes. Although CPI(M) MLAs were protesting the minister's statement, they remained in the House.
As the minister continued his attack on the opposition, especially Congress by branding them anti-Hindu, the opposition members rushed to the Well and started giving slogans.
However, the Speaker did not pay heed to the opposition's protests and went on with the scheduled business.