Seek US envoy's recall for Iran remark: MPs to govt

Left, DMK and RJD stage walkout from both Houses.

Just a week before the US President's visit to India, the UPA government found itself on a sticky wicket in Parliament today with many coalition partners joining the Left and the opposition in demanding the recall of US Ambassador David Mulford for "diplomatic impropriety".

Demanding a statement on its "muted response" to Mulford's linking of India's vote on Iran with the US nuclear deal and dissatisfied with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi's reply, the Left parties, the SP, the BSP, the DMK and the RJD staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha during Zero Hour. The BJP, which came out in their support, however, did not join them.

Dasmunsi said the government had never compromised "national dignity and honour" and he would convey the MPs' sentiments to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The issue also rocked the Rajya Sabha where the Left and the SP members staged a walkout. Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Nilotpal Basu of the CPI(M) said it was "very shameful" that the envoy was functioning in a "viceregal" fashion.

Basu said the Left parties would force the issue again during a discussion on Iran in Parliament on February 23. "Recall of the Ambassador is the only way out," he said.

Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) said India was "not a banana republic. The US must understand and they must recall the envoy".

Agreeing with members' sentiments, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri said it was a "serious issue" and "the government has taken it very seriously".

Leader of Opposition, Jaswant Singh, said Mulford's remarks amounted to "total violation of existing diplomatic norms".

In the Lok Sabha, Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) said India should make it clear to the visiting US President that the envoy "should go back immediately with bag and baggage".

CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia, who initiated the debate in the Lok Sabha, termed the US envoy's actions as "interference" in the internal affairs of the country.

CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta said not lodging a strong protest against the envoy gave "an impression that you are yielding to the pressure".

BSP MP Iliyas Azmi demanded that Mulford should be declared a "persona non grata". Speaker Somnath Chatterjee urged the members to maintain dignity saying the US was a friendly country. "Strong words break no bones," he said.

BJP's deputy leader in the House, V K Malhotra said what the envoy did was"improper" but "more objectionable was that our government succumbed to the pressure".

Brajakishore Tripathi (BJD), who has given notice for a discussion on the issue under a rule which entails voting said, "Prolonged silence of the government is shocking".

D P Yadav (RJD) said action of the US envoy was "unprecedented" and his recall should be demanded immediately.

The US envoy has been in the eye of a storm since his media interview in which he reportedly sought to link the Indo-US nuclear agreement with India's vote on Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He had also questioned the Left stance on FDI in retail and insurance sectors.

Mulford got into a deeper mess after shooting off a "protest letter" to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for his anti-US statements at a public rally in Kolkata and linking it with US investment in the state.