SRINAGAR: The dramatic case of security breach in the Parliament on December 13, 2023, with two intruders jumping from the Visitor’s Gallery into the main hall of the Lok Sabha in Parliament Complex while a session was on is reminiscent of a similar incident in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
Rewind to October 8, 2012: The J&K legislative assembly was in session in Srinagar – the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Three persons sitting in the VIP visitors’ gallery suddenly jumped into the well of the assembly, raising slogans against ‘unemployment’.
The three persons, who jumped into the well were members of the Jammu Kashmir Democratic Front (JKDF), considered to be a frontal organisation of the BJP. The Marshals of the assembly immediately whisked away the three and handed them over to the police.
The incident had forced speaker Muhammad Akbar Lone to order inquest proceedings against the trio as also against BJP MLA, Jagdish Raj Sapolia, who had recommended the VIP entry passes for the trio.
The three JKDF intruders were bailed shortly after their release. Sapolia had to apologise for the incident before the house. One police personnel, who was on the verge of retirement, was also suspended for negligence.
A separate internal inquiry was ordered by the J&K legislature but its outcome, if any, is not known.
Interestingly, the JKDF was formed in 2011 when former union minister Chaman Lal Gupta, Jagdish Raj Sapolia and four other BJP MLAs were suspended by the BJP on allegations of cross-voting. The party was headed by Chaman Lal’s son, Anil Gupta. It was believed that Chaman Lal Gupta was the main brain behind the party. Shortly before 2014 elections, the party re-merged with the BJP.
Several years before this, a similar incident in the winter session of the J&K state legislature preceded this one when two Jammu Joint Students Federation activists tried to jump into the main hall of the J&K Legislative Assembly from the VIP gallery, when Tara Chand was the Speaker. They were stopped by the alert Marshals and handed over to the police.
The passes were issued by BJP legislator, Choudhary Piara Singh, who had to apologise before the House.
Forward to December 13, 2023:
Two persons entered the MP’s chamber in India’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday and threw smoke bombs in a major security lapse. The two jumped into the well where lawmakers sit from the visitors’ gallery and let off smoke canisters, filling the space with yellow smoke.
The security breach comes on the 22nd anniversary of a deadly 2001 terrorist attack on parliament that killed 14 people, including security officers and five gunmen.
Live televised footage of the proceedings, on the Sansad TV channel, showed lawmakers stunned by the incident attempting to catch the men as they jumped from desk to desk. Both houses of the Parliament were adjourned briefly moments later.
Two suspects have been taken into custody following the security breach, police said.
An hour earlier, two persons, a man named Anmol from Maharashtra and a woman named Neelam from Haryana, were detained outside the parliament complex for staging a protest and releasing a smoke bomb. They were shouting slogans “Tanhashahi Nahin Chalegi” (Down with Dictatorship) when they were being taken away by police to a security vehicle.
Police said they are trying to ascertain if the two incidents are linked.
“Both of them have been nabbed and the materials with them have also been seized. The two people outside the parliament have also been arrested by police,” said Om Birla, Speaker of the lower house, or Lok Sabha. “In the primary investigation, it has been found that it was just smoke and there is no need to worry about the smoke,” he said.
No security personnel came to rescue
The drama continued for some time and there was no security inside the Lok Sabha Hall of Parliament. The two were overpowered by two parliamentarians of Congress Gurjeet Singh Aujla and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) MP Hanuman Beniwal.
The watch and ward staff of the Lok Sabha came to the hall a few minutes later. No explanation was available why all the watch and ward staff were missing as they are usually around while the proceedings are going on.
Police have filed terrorism charges under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against four people in connection with security breach in parliament and demonstration outside, shouted slogans and set off smoke canisters.
Passes recommended by BJP MP
The fresh Parliament incident bears a strong resemblance to the two incidents in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in many ways. The intruders appeared to be disgruntled youth and they were given passes on the recommendations of BJP members.
In the December 13 case, the visitor pass was issued in the name of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Mysuru Pratap Simha.
(The image shows the names of one Sagar Sharma (intruder) and BJP MP from Mysuru Pratap Simha)One of them, Manoranjan D, was in constant touch with Simha’s PA to get the visitor’s pass for him and his friend Sagar.
Manoranjan D, one of the accused, introduced co-accused Sagar Sharma as a friend to the MP’s office and got passes issued to them on the pretext of watching the new Parliament, according to PTI news report.
Three passes were issued at the behest of Simha for Wednesday. However, one person, a woman, had to return as she arrived with her child whose name was not mentioned in her pass, the PTI report added.
The Karnataka Congress has also alleged that the arrested individual in the Parliament security breach case had previously worked in the IT cell for BJP MP Pratap Simha. The Congress has also demanded the seizure of the BJP MP’s office.
“We don’t know when these meetings occurred. His office should be seized. This is an issue concerning national security. If they request documents and proofs, we are ready to provide them. Our statements are based on evidence. What we are asserting is very close to the truth,” Laxman said.
No action against Simha
However, no inquiry has been ordered and no disciplinary action has been taken against Simha even though the four intruders, whose passes for entry into Parliament were recommended by him. Reports point out that Simha informed the Speaker that he had no additional information about the intruders.
15 MPs suspended for asking questions
On Thursday, a day after the breach, security was ramped up around the parliament building, with barricades outside the complex to restrict entry.
Both houses were adjourned after protests by opposition MPs who demanded a discussion on the incident and statements from the prime minister and the home minister.
In the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament, opposition MP Derek O’Brien was suspended for “ignoble conduct” after he shouted slogans demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah.
In the Lok Sabha, the lower house, 14 MPs from opposition parties such as the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam were suspended until 22 December, when the session ends.
Before the session was adjourned, defence minister Rajnath Singh said in parliament that the incident had been condemned by “everyone”. “We all – ruling and opposition MPs – have to be careful about to whom we issue the passes (to enter parliament),” he said.
Opposition leaders have demanded action against Pratap Simha, an MP from the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who allegedly signed the passes used by the intruders to enter the public gallery in parliament.
Neither Simha nor his party have officially commented.
A police official said that visitor passes had been suspended until a security review was completed for the parliament building.
New Parliament Building & Security Concerns
The incident took place in the new parliament building, constructed as part of BJP government’s Rs 20,000 crore Central Vista Redevelopment Project, and inaugurated on May 28, 2023. The opposition parties had criticised the project as a wasteful expenditure and boycotted its inaugural ceremony in accordance with strict Hindu religious traditions.
Opposition members have now raised concerns about lack of security inside the parliament, reduced security and the logic of constructing the new parliament building with reduced height of the visitors’ gallery from the House floor in the new Parliament building.
There are six public galleries located above where the MPs sit. The front most row is 10 and a half feet above them.
In the old parliament building, the visitor’s gallery was located much higher, disabling any security breach. There were some incidents when people from the visitor’s gallery raised slogans and threw pamphlets. At one time, Bihar MP, Mohan Singh’s wife threw pamphlets from the public gallery.
Twenty-two years ago, a major security breach happened in the parliament on the same day. On December 13, 2001, more than a dozen people, including five gunmen, were killed in the attack. Atal Behari Vajpayee led BJP government was in power then.
Incidentally, the 2001 attackers had come in a white Ambassador car belonging to a BJP MP. The car had a parliament access sticker. The MP had said that the vehicle had been sold to a car dealers and the attackers might have purchased it from him. However, it was never investigated how the car which had stickers for Parliament access on its wind screen was acquired by the attackers.
From the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly security breaches to the parliament security breaches, one common thread is the link to a BJP member of the House.
(This story has been updated)
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