Cow-based lynching issue rocks Lok Sabha: Six Congress MPs suspended for throwing papers at Speaker

NEW DELHI: Six Congress MPs were suspended by the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan from the Lok Sabha for five days  for improper conduct after they tore up papers and threw them towards her podium. Mahajan suspended six MPs - Gaurav Gogoi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Ranjit Ranjan, Sushmita Dev, M.K. Raghavan and K. Suresh -- for the whole of this week for “highly unbecoming” conduct during their protests over the lynching issue that “undermined the Chair's dignity”. The opposition members were raising slogans in the Well to protest the incidents of lynching by cow vigilantes, with the government saying killing in the name of cow protection is wrong and the states should deal with them. The speaker in return suspended 6 Congress MPs for five days over the same. Speaking on the issue, Congress leader Malikarjun Kharge said minority communities, dalits and women were living in an atmosphere of terror and fear. Responding to Government’s statement, Parliamentary affairs Minister Anant Kumar said, “Government’s stand on cow protection is clear and no sort of goonism won’t be tolerated”. The ruckus comes on the day when a truck was set on fire by a mob on the suspicion of carrying cow flesh. The truck first met with an accident. When the people came to see the truck, they found meat stored in it. The mob suspected that the meat was beef. After this, Bajranj Dal and VHP leaders reached the spot, and therefore started vandalizing it and thereafter torched the truck. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cleared his stand on the issue at several occasions and asserted that “lynching in the name of cow protection would not be tolerated”.