Assembly proceedings disrupted over Sakeguda massacre

The winter session of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly got off to a noisy start on Monday with the Opposition BJP stalling the proceedings during the question hour over the Sarakeguda encounter.

The judicial commission report on the Sarkeguda encounter, in which 17 villagers were killed in cold blood by the security forces, was leaked a day before it was tabled in the House.

Most newspapers in the state blew up the report, forcing the opposition party to serve a notice for breach of privilege. The opposition did not even allow the House to know who would be covered under the breach of privilege motion.

The opposition did not allow the ruling party to explain the leakage. Officiating Speaker Satyanarayana Sharma adjourned the house for some time.

When the proceedings resumed, former Chief Minister Raman Singh asked about the lawyers who participated in the hearing of the civil supplies corporation scam as to how did the government pay lawyers like Harish Salve Rs 81 lakh even though he did not even visit Raipur for the hearing.

Raman Singh also alleged that the government was misleading the Assembly.

The opposition managed to stall the discussion on the core issue of police killing 17 innocent villagers through a cooked up encounter.

Several ministers and senior legislators of the ruling party stood up when former Raman Sing kept levelling serious charges against the Bhupesh Baghel ministry.

The treasury benches made counter charges and much of the discussion was lost in the ensuing chaos.

The CPI-M demanded dismissal of police personnel involved in the Sarkeguda massacre.

CPI-M Secretary Sanjay Parate issued a statement saying that the Central and state governments responsible for forgery of this massacre as a Naxalite encounter should apologise to the people of Chhattisgarh, especially the tribals of Bastar.

Seeking compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the affected tribal families, Parate said that even after the change of power in the state, there has been no change in the anti-tribal attitude of the administration. Because the Congress government is also taking forward the corporate policies of the BJP, he alleged.

Parate said that if the Congress was truly sensitive towards the problems of the tribals, then it should implement the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, PESA Act and Fifth Schedule.

( With inputs from IANS )