Tried to break security cordon, attacked and chocked marshals: Report by Director (Security) of Rajya Sabha reveals the extent of violence by opposition MPs

The monsoon session of the Parliament saw a large scale disruption by the opposition, which culminated in violence and manhandling of officials by the opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha on August 11. While the marshals were summoned to control the violence by the elder members of the parliament, the opposition parties had been alleging that the govt had brought people from outside to attack them.

However, the lies of the opposition were busted quickly when the govt released the CCTV footage from the Rajya Sabha, which showed that it was the MPs who were attacking the marshals. Visuals from the Rajya Sabha session showed that women MPs P Devi Netam and Chhaya- both from the Indian National Congress – were beating and dragging a woman marshal.

Now the Director (Security) of Rajya Sabha has submitted a report regarding the incident, which shows that it was the opposition MPs who were indulging in violence, not the marshals as alleged by the opposition parties.

The report, accessed by OpIndia, says that the pandemonium in the upper house started when the house was discussing the Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill, 2021 at around 2 PM on 11^th August.

The report states, “As soon as the bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha for consideration and passing, Hon’ble Members from opposition stormed into the well of the House to disturb the smooth functioning of the House and attempted to climb the on the Table of the House and to tear the books/papers placed on it. As per the directions from the Chair and Standard Operating Procedures, officials of the Parliament Security Service had already positioned themselves around the Table of the House to prevent potential damage to the items placed on the Table and to protect Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha and other officials from the Secretariat from causing any hurt during the commotion.”

The Director (Security) said in the report that after that, the opposition MPs started tearing the papers and throwing them towards the Chair of the House. Preempting the aggressive temperament of the opposition MPs, it was decided to rush in additional security officials (Marshals) into the Chamber in order to prevent the MPs from causing any damage to the Chair and the Table of the House.

Immediately after receiving the backup, the marshals strengthened the cordon around the Chair/Table of the House and tried their best to prevent the opposition MPs from causing any damage. During this, Congress MP Syed Nasir Hussain first pushed Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut towards security officials cordoning the Table of the House and subsequently pulled him back.

As the opposition MPs failed to breach the cordon of security officials (Marshals), and their efforts to cause potential damage to the Chair of the House went in vain, they started manhandling security officials instead. During the commotion, one of the lady Marshals was dragged by the MPs terribly, causing minor injury to her several body parts.

Another male marshal officer was left choking and suffocating when an MP, in an attempt to breach the cordon, caught hold of his neck.

The report also included frames grabbed from the CCTV footage showing the violence unleashed by the opposition MPs.

The female security officer Ms Akshita Bhat also submitted a report to the Director (Security), where she narrated when she tried to prevent the MPs from breaching the security cordon in their attempt to reach the Table of the House, two female Congress MPs Chhaya Verma and Phulo Devi Netam stepped aside and made way for male Members to aggressively breach the security cordon and reach the Table. The two female MPs physically and forcefully dragged her by pulling her arms in their attempt to help their male counterparts break the security cordon formed by the security officials. “However, in spite of their aggressiveness and violent behaviour towards an official performing bonafide duties, I maintained dignity and decorum by gently opposing their force and managed to prevent them to approach the Table of the House,” Akshita Bhat wrote.

She also informed that she sustained multiple abrasions, swellings and haematoma (left shoulder) and twisted left wrist as a result of the assault. “The situation was unprecedented and it was an extremely challenging endeavour to have maintained a dignified behaviour in the face of violent behaviour demonstrated by the protesting Members of Parliament in the well of Rajya Sabha Chamber on 11.08.2021,” she added.

Similarly, security officer Rakesh Negi also informed that CPI(M) MP Elamaram Kareem and Shiv Sena MP Anil Desai had tried to break the security cordon, and in the process, Elamaram Kareem caught hold of his neck in order to drag him out of the security cordon chain. This had resulted in Negi suffering choking and suffocation for some moments.

The report by the Director (Security) also included the chronology of the events in the Rajya Sabha. The same has been reproduced below.