'Ready to answer everything': Amit Shah offers extended debate to end Parliament logjam

Amid the Oppositions continued demand for his presence in Parliament Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said he was ready to answer everything regarding the police action against students during the July 20 Parliament march over the NEET paper leak issueShah accused the Opposition of deliberately preventing a discussion on the matter and said the government was prepared to hold a detailed debate if Parliament was allowed to functionThe Opposition has repeatedly demanded Shahs presence in the House and sought a statement from him on the police action against students who participated in the protest march The standoff has resulted in repeated disruptions during the Monsoon SessionShah rejects Oppositionrsquos allegation of avoiding ParliamentSpeaking to reporters on the Parliament premises Shah rejected allegations that he was avoiding the House and said he had been regularly attending the ongoing Monsoon SessionTerms like laapata bhaag gaye Bhagode are the kind of language increasingly being heard in Indias public and parliamentary life in recent times I have been coming to Parliament regularly since the Session began I sit in my chamber However since the Opposition is not allowing Parliament to function in both the Houses what is one supposed to do by going there Shah saidHe maintained that he had been available in his chamber even as proceedings in both Houses were repeatedly disruptedGovernment says it is ready for detailed discussionAddressing the Oppositions demand for a discussion on the student protests Shah said Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had already made it clear that the government was willing to hold a detailed debateThe Home Minister said the government had accepted the Oppositions original demand for a discussion and that he had personally offered to answer questions on the police action in ParliamentThis is what the Oppositions initial demand was and we agreed to it I have also stated that I am ready to answer every question in Parliament However they do not want the discussion to take place Now the public needs to decide who is running away the Home Minister saidShahs remarks came amid an ongoing standoff between the government and Opposition over the handling of the student protest and the police response to the marchShah proposes discussion from Wednesday to ThursdayShah also proposed an extended time frame for the discussion in an effort to address the deadlockHe said that if the Opposition submitted a letter to the Speaker by 2 pm the government was prepared to hold the discussion from 3 pm on Wednesday until 3 pm on ThursdayThe proposed schedule would allow the discussion to continue for an extended period giving members from both the government and Opposition an opportunity to raise their concerns and respond to the issues involvedShah said he would respond to the points raised by Opposition members by 3 pm on Thursday provided Parliament was allowed to function and the discussion was taken uplsquoGovernment has nothing to hidersquo Shah saysShah said he was prepared to remain in the House throughout the discussion and respond to the issues raised by Opposition membersI will sit in the House I will listen to everyone and respond to every point The government has nothing to hide I will even discuss why they did not want the discussion to happen The NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ready to discuss anything they just need to let Parliament function Shah addedHe accused the Opposition of obstructing parliamentary proceedings and said the government could not hold the proposed discussion unless the Houses were allowed to function normallyShah calls for lsquodetailed and constructiversquo debateThe Home Minister also said the issue of the students protest and the police action against them was too serious to be dealt with through a brief response or statementHe stressed that the matter required a detailed and constructive discussion in Parliament so that the circumstances surrounding the protest and the police action could be examinedThe Opposition has been demanding answers from the government over the police response to students who took part in the July 20 march over the NEET paper leak issue The protests and subsequent political disagreement have contributed to repeated disruptions in ParliamentShah maintained that the government remained ready to engage with the Opposition on the issue but insisted that parliamentary proceedings must be allowed to continue for the discussion to take placeWith inputs from IANS