Cong MPs hit the roof, demand compensation for kin of Iraq victims

Congress MPs from Punjab wanted to be on top of things -- so they staged a protest today on the rooftop of Parliament's porch.

Instead of the well of the House, which is where Members usually voice their anguish, or near a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament House complex, where they often gather with placards, they climbed up to the rooftop to press their demands.

The MPs shouted slogans and brandished placards, urging that the families of Indian workers killed in Iraq be adequately compensated, and the ongoing budget session of Parliament be extended.

Punjab Congress chief and Lok Sabha MP from Gurdaspur Sunil Jakhar said they were forced to climb up to the roof so that their demands would be heard.

"It was an extreme step taken under duress. We want to remind the government of its responsibility. We were shouting loudly from the rooftop only to make the government hear us out and understand our agony," Jakhar told PTI.

He said the MPs wanted the government to give adequate compensation to the families of 39 Indians killed in Iraq.

Jakhar was accompanied by his party colleagues from Punjab, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Santokh Singh Chaudhary, in the protest.

"Parliament has not been able to function due to the connivance and active participation of the government in creating disruption through its friendly parties," he added.

The MP said the protestors want the budget session of Parliament to be extended so that key issues confronting the country could be debated.

"These include high petrol prices, plight of farmers and the killing of Indians in Iraq," he said.