Members of several opposition parties trooped into the well of the Rajya Sabha today raising slogans against the government for the permission given to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living to hold a World Culture Festival on the flood pans of Yamuna River in Delhi.
Raising the matter during Zero Hour, Sharad Yadav of Janata Dal (U), opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and MS Gill of Congress criticised the sanction for the convention and said, it would adversely affect the eco-sensitive region as also the bird sanctuary in the vicinity.
Leader of Rajya Sabha and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley objected to the raising of a matter, which a court or tribunal is seized of. He said, parallel procedure cannot go on in a court or tribunal and Parliament. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi clarified, due permission has been taken by the organisers to hold the function and they would take every precaution not to disturb the eco-sensitivity of the region.
Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien admonished the agitated members, saying they were becoming laughing stocks before the country. He also asked some members from the treasury benches to behave.