Yesterday, while the winter session of the parliament was in session, two mystrious individuals leaped from the audience loft into the hall. The MPs were taken aback when they saw them throwing smoke bombs.
Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan (35) were the trespassers who entered the Parliament. Sagar Sharma is from Lucknow. Manoranjan hails from Mysore and has studied BE Computer Science from Bangalore. Neelam (42), was arrested for protesting outside Parliament andanother person Amol Shinde (25) is from Latur, Maharashtra. Neelam hails from Hisar, Haryana. Attending coaching center for IAS entrance exam, she has already participated in farmers' protest. But the arrested persons are said not to be related to any political party or organization. They have claimed to be personally involved in this incident.
Along with this, they have raised slogans like “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”,“end dictatorship”. This incident which took place in the new Parliament has created a lot of excitement across the country.
Anyone entering the Parliament premises must show an identity card. A letter of recommendation from a Member of Parliament or a Parliamentary Officer is required to get it. Officials entering the Parliament building entrances have to go through the metal detector.All visitors must pass through a metal detector before entering the visitor's area.Visitors are not allowed to bring sticks, umbrellas, suitcases, handbags, smoking materials, books, posters etc. Visitors are also not allowed to carry cell phones, pagers etc.
Inspite of all these, the mysterious people have thrown dangerous objects like smoke bombs inside the Parliament has shocked the country.There is no doubt that this represents a major security flaw. All opposition leaders have strongly condemned the incident.
Although it is a relief that political party leaders, central ministers and other members of Parliament were not harmed by the breach, it is very worrying that such an attack can be carried out by entering the Parliament so easily. Karti Chidambaram MP has accussed that if it was a terrorist who entered, they would have shot down at least 100 of our MPs.
And this incident, which happened on the same day as the terrorist attack in the Parliament last year in 2001, has raised various questions. If one can enter parliament with coloured canisters, why cant one also enter with guns and explosives that are life-threatening? That is the main question that is in the mind of the people.A detailed inquiry should be ordered in this regard. Officials who let down the security should be identified and action should be taken against them.
Isn't it necessary that the Parliament, where leaders including the President, Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Union Ministers, etc. can work, should be free of any security flaws?