December 4, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 9, 1424

NEW DELHI, Dec 3: Angry lawmakers disrupted proceedings in the Indian lower house on Wednesday, demanding an immediate debate on the killing of over 50 migrant workers in a northeastern state torn by ethnic violence.

Most of those killed in Assam state have been Hindi-speakers from neighbouring Bihar state seeking highly coveted government railroad jobs. Biharis and Assamese are of different ethnicities, and jobs in the impoverished region are scarce.

However, similar violence has occurred in western Maharashtra state, against job-seekers from the same ethnic background, but from different Indian states.

When the powerful lower house met on Wednesday after a two-month break, Rajesh Ranjan, an independent lawmaker from Bihar, approached the speaker’s podium and demanded the suspension of question hour, the first business item for the day.

He claimed that 300 migrant workers from Bihar had been killed in Assam and wanted the matter discussed urgently.

Prabhunath Singh, a member from Bihar’s governing Samata Party, accused the Assam state police of standing by and not stopping the killings.

Ignoring Speaker Manohar Joshi’s assurance that they would get a chance to discuss the killings later in the day, the lawmakers shouted down a member of the opposition Congress party, who had been given the floor to speak on bribery accusations against some federal ministers.

The lower house was adjourned twice for a total of three hours as the Bihar lawmakers insisted they be heard first.

Such disruptions of parliament’s televised sessions over procedural questions are common. The tactic is designed to show voters that their legislators are passionate on their behalf.

Soldiers have been patrolling several towns and villages in Assam since the violence began on Nov 18.—AP