In the last Winter Session of the Parliament there was a touching incidence where the sitting of the House was observed for several parliamentarians. The house was adjourned after obituary reference to five leaders including two active members of the house has created discussion. This blog post examines why such a thing is done, and the importance of such procedure in the Indian Parliament.
Homage to Leaders who are no Longer Around
The ‘large, solemn’ Lok Sabha on the first day of the Winter Session began business – The Hindu. The Speaker, in his first opening remarks, condoled loss of five leaders out of them two were members of the House actively. These members were Congress representative Vasant Chavan from Nanded and Trinamool Congress representative S K Nurul Islam from Basirhat. During the recess all three of these ex-members along with three others also died. During the session, the former members awarded were M M Lawrence, M Parvathi and Harishchandra Chavan. This time of introspection was an opportunity that Parliamentarians could honor their colleagues who had meaningfully served the nation.
The Custom of Adjourning the House
Famous for his comedy plays, Molière uses the characters of The Custom of Adjourning the House to satirize the ruling system. After the obituary references the House was suspended for one hour. The adjournment led to issues being thrown that raised eyebrows, especially from Karti Chidambaram who is a Congress. He asked why the Lok Sabha met for such a long again after tributes had been paid. Parliamentary officers dismissed this by arguing that it is a tradition for the House to be closed after a sitting member’s obituary reference. It gives members a clue of what the departed individuals have done through a process of memorialization.
What was the cause of the day’s adjournment of the House?
From rules of parliament, there is direction as to when adjournment occurs after an obituary reference it has a meaning. It affords the members an opportunity to pay tribute to lives of the deceased and their accomplishments. Second, it enables the change-over from formal sitting to times of grief. This formula is an opportunity for everybody to make noise and demonstrate respect and then step back from the work. However, the adjournment in the current case only lasted for an hour. This shorter adjournment cannot be explained other than changes in the parliamentary practices but doesn’t change the respect festive of the ritual.
A Tradition based on Cult of Honour
There is a lot of tradition in the House to adjourn immediately after an obituary reference. It has also an effect of maintaining the integrity of Parliament and a way of making sure that post-mortem contributions of members are valued. It therefore keeps the human part of the House – respecting and remembering the deceased and giving them their due has a worthy place even in the world of politics. Click here for the source
