Cong seeks discussion in LS on Manipur, MSME condition & 8 ex-Indian Navy men in Qatar

New Delhi, Dec 6 (IANS) Congress Lok Sabha MPs Gaurav Gogoi, Manickam Tagore and Manish Tewari moved adjournment notices in the House for demanding a discussion on the fresh firing incident in Manipur, the "critical issue affecting MSMEs in Tamil Nadu and the death penalty to eight ex-Indian Navy personnel in Qatar respectively.

In his notice, Gogoi said, "I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent importance, namely -- A firing incident was reported in Manipur's Tengnoupal on Monday, December 04, 2023, after which the Assam Rifles initiated an operation in the area. Following the operation, 13 bodies were recovered in the Tengnoupal district."

He mentioned that the official source said that the deceased individuals in the Leithu area did not seem to be residents, suggesting that they may have come from elsewhere and engaged in a firefight with another group.

"The ethnic violence in the state had already claimed at least 175 lives since May 2023. The incident comes amid the state and central leadership assertions that Manipur is inching towards peace and normalcy. It indicates that the situation on the ground is far from normal. There is an urgent need to review the current situation and discuss the roadmap for bringing back peace and normalcy in the region," he said.

Giving a notice on the MSME situation in Tamil Nadu, Manickam Tagore said in his notice, "I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent importance, namely -- To discuss about the critical issue affecting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Tamil Nadu, particularly concerning the aggressive actions taken by private banks against these businesses in the matter of loan repayments."

He said that several MSME units in Tamil Nadu availed loans in 2017 and responsibly repaid them.

"However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government announced a moratorium to provide relief to businesses, allowing them to defer loan repayments. In response, many MSMEs took additional loans to cope with the economic challenges posed by the pandemic," he said.

"But certain private banks are not only merging the outstanding amounts from the earlier loans but are also initiating aggressive actions, including the potential takeover of properties worth significantly more than the outstanding loan amounts. For instance a private bank is in the process of seizing properties valued at Rs 2 crore for an outstanding loan amount of 80 lakh. This disproportionate response is causing distress among the MSME community, raising serious concerns about the financial stability and survival of these enterprises.

"Therefore, I propose that the House urgently discusses this matter keeping aside other routine business and directs the government to issue clear instructions to private banks. The objective should be to protect the MSME sector in Tamil Nadu," Tagore added.

Manish Tewari in his notice said, "I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent importance, namely -- That this House do suspend Zero Hour, Question Hour, and other Businesses of the Day to have a discussion regarding the retired-Indian navy personnel imprisoned in Qatar. Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh, were sentenced by the Qatari court on October 26, 2023."

He said that he has been constantly raising this matter since August 2022 both inside and outside the House but the response of the government has been no response for 14 months.

"In the meantime the eight Naval Personnel (Retd) have ostensibly been brutally tortured, self incriminating confessions extracted and sentenced to death in a Kangaroo Trail in a couple of perfunctory hearings. The Government has not even called in the Qatari Ambassador to protest the matter strongly. There is no visible protest by the Indian government.

"Despite the purported acceptance of their appeal, crucial details such as charges, court rationale, and the judgment of the copy of the Court of First Instance remain undisclosed. I therefore urge the government to inform the House of the situation about our Navy personnel in Qatar and the steps taken to bring them back to India. I hereby request permission to raise this matter," Tewari added.

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