The only Muslim MLA in the Gujarat Assembly on Monday sought the Speaker’s protection from allegedly insulting references to him by Bharatiya Janata Party legislators.
Muslim legislator, the Congress’ Imran Khedawala, sought protection from the Speaker against alleged “insulting” references made towards him by members of the ruling BJP, who referred to him as a person “from a specific community.”
“Here, I am a Muslim MLA among the 182 MLAs. So, I seek your protection. I raise issues of society and of Gujarat within the limits of the Constitution. So, the kind of sentences being used in the Assembly should not be used from now onwards,” he said.
In response, Speaker Shankar Chaudhary urged all MLAs not to make personal references.
“As the Speaker of this Assembly, it is my responsibility to give protection to every member. Every member does get protection and will continue to do so. I tell honorable ministers as well not to make personal references using somebody’s name,” Chaudhary said.
The issue arose during the Question Hour on Monday when Imran Khedawala sought information on the start of construction for a proposed bridge between Vishala Circle and Sarkhej Crossroads in Ahmedabad, a road passing through the Muslim-dominated areas of Juhapura and Sarkhej.
In response, Minister of State Jagdish Vishwakarma stated that the commencement and completion of the construction depended on several factors, including the number of encroachments along the route.
“On that single road, there are more than 700 non-veg lorries, shops, kiosks; more than 1,200 rickshaws lie on that road, around 11 garages of a particular community are there, and all of them are illegal,” he said, as reported by The Indian Express.
“Around six religious encroachments of a particular community are there.”
The BJP MLA said, “When only a particular community does encroachments in the entire state, then, honorable Imran Bhai, it is your duty that your community does not do wrongful encroachment.”
Khedawala immediately objected and said, “They always talk about a community.”
Vishwakarma also alleged that Khedawala’s “unauthorized” office in Ahmedabad’s Jamalpur area was recently bulldozed.
The Congress MLA denied that his office was illegal and told the Speaker that BJP legislators were repeatedly using allegedly insulting terms to describe him as being from a “particular community.”
He also raised a Point of Order, but Speaker Chaudhary instructed him to do so after the Question Hour.
After the Question Hour, he addressed the Speaker, condemning the insulting references to his community, citing a previous instance where BJP MLA Amit Shah linked his community to the 2003 murder of BJP leader Haren Pandya.
Addressing the Speaker, he said, “How insulting talks are being done while referring to me as a person from a community; Amitbhai had talked in an insulting manner the other day.”
Earlier in March, during a discussion on the Home Department’s budgetary demands, Amit Shah, the MLA from Ellisbridge, referred to Khedawala and remarked, “People from your minority community were the killers of Haren Pandya.”
