Voicing concern over the death of 10 army men in Siachen recently, a JD-U member today said in Rajya Sabha that India and Pakistan should work towards withdrawal of troops from such tough areas to save the lives from both sides.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, K C Tyagi referred to the death of soldiers in Siachen after their post was hit by an avalanche earlier this month to buttress his point.
He said many Indian and Pakistani soldiers die due to difficult working conditions in Siachen.
He recalled that during the Prime Ministership of Rajiv Gandhi, an attempt was made to withdraw forces from both sides from such difficult terrain.
This issue should figure in talks between India and Pakistan whenever it happens next time so that untimely deaths of soldiers can be prevented, Tyagi said.
Tiruchi Siva (DMK) raised the issue of Tamil fishermen being arrested and jailed by Sri Lankan authorities regularly for allegedly crossing the maritime boundary.
He said the issue should be taken up in the meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Sri Lankan counterpart in future.
Vijay Jawaharlal Darda (Cong) raised the issue of water scarcity in Latur and other regions and Maharashtra and urged the government to give a package to farmers and waive their loans.
Sanjiv Kumar (JMM) raised the issue of underground fire in Jharia coal belt and called for evacuation of people to safer areas by coal companies BCCL and ECL.
Sanjay Singh (Cong) said that Maharana Pratap's birth anniversary on May 9 should be declared a public holiday.
Tarun Vijay (BJP) raised the issue of discrimination of dalits alleging that there are separate crematoriums for Dalits and non-dalits in South India, remarks which were objected to by a member of AIADMK, who said no such arrangment exists there.
Slamming caste discrimination, Vijay also raised the issue of denial of permission to a dalit woman to enter temple in Uttarakhand and suicide of dalit girls.
