MP justifies Rajya Sabha brawl

JD (U) leader says he will repeat his performance on Tuesday to stop the Women's Reservation Bill from going through

His act has been condemned by politicians cutting across party lines, but JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Aijaz Ali says he would do it again.

"If the government tries to present the women's reservation bill in the present format, I will disrupt the house and throw mikes on Tuesday, as I did it on Monday," said Ali.

Ali along with three other MPs, climbed on to the podium of the chairman of Rajya Sabha while Hamid Ansari snatched away his microphone, and tore a copy of the Women's Reservation Bill, to prevent it from being introduced in the house.

Ali's act did not end there. When the Rajya Sabha reconvened at 6 pm after an adjournment, he rushed into parliament shouting, "Dhokha hoga hamare saath isliye humko jaana hai andar jaldi."
"I don't believe the Congress; they can get the bill passed on the sly," he pointed out. "I am not worried about the consequences and the action, which might be taken by the house against me, as I am fighting for the backward classes," said Ali.

Ali feels that only the elite women would benefit from the Bill in its present form, and therefore it has to be opposed tooth and nail. He has no regrets about his actions in the Rajya Sabha. "I know it might be wrong, but tell me what option did we have before us? How else could we have stopped the Bill from being presented by the Congress-led government? Besides, when the Bill was introduced two years ago, a similar situation prevailed," said Ali.

According to Ali, the Congress has acted in a similar way in the past including in 1960, when they removed Dalit Muslims from the category of Scheduled Castes. "Why are they are opposing our demands? All we are asking is to provide reservation for the Scheduled Castes (SC), Other Backward Classesu00a0 (OBC) and the Muslims within the ambit of the reservation for women in parliament," added Ali.