The agenda for the meeting of the Standing Committee on Home Affairs was to hear the views of several ministries on the subject “crime against children”.(Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey)A HEATED exchange occurred between BJP and Congress MPs during a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs, with the Opposition members insisting on a discussion on the police action against protesting students in Delhi on July 20, it is learnt.A BJP member interjected, saying if the Congress members are not sticking to the agenda of the meeting, he too wants a discussion on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. This triggered a war of words between the two sides, especially BJP MP Tarun Chugh and Congress MP Jai Prakash, prompting the committee chairman, Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, to exclude the exchange from the record of the proceedings, it is learnt.The agenda for the meeting of the Standing Committee on Home Affairs was to hear the views of several ministries on the subject “crime against children”. The Congress members on the panel are learnt to have argued during the meeting that what happened in the Capital on July 20 was a “crime against children” and should be discussed by the panel.A BJP member is learnt to have said that the Congress was allegedly glorifying its former leader Sajjan Kumar, convicted for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, who died last week. The BJP member, it is learnt, said a Congress MP had made some remarks praising Kumar. A Congress member retaliated, targeting the BJP on alleged fake encounters in Haryana, resulting in a verbal altercation between the two sides, it is learnt.A Congress MP had on August 5 submitted a letter to the committee chairman, Agrawal, seeking a discussion on the police action against students at Jantar Mantar on July 20 during the protest over NEET paper leak row.When the letter could not be taken up on August 5, the Congress members insisted that the discussion be taken up during Tuesday’s meeting.Agrawal is learnt to have told the panel that since the matter of police action was pending before the Supreme Court, it could not be discussed during the meeting of the parliamentary committee, as per rules and procedure of Parliament.Story continues below this adTwo Congress MPs had an exchange with Agrawal on the importance of discussing the issue of police action against students and argued that it fell in the purview of “crime against children”, which was the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, it is learnt.Agrawal is learnt to have passed a ruling that the issue raised by the Congress members could not be taken up during the committee meeting, but added that a discussion on standard operating procedures (SOP) on use of force during protests can be discussed in the future.He is learnt to have said that officials from the departments concerned can be called for a meeting in the future and the SOP can be discussed with them.The committee is learnt to have excluded both the Congress MP’s letter as well as the heated exchanges between the committee members from the record of the proceedings.Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read MoreJatin Anand is an Assistant Editor with the national political bureau of The Indian Express. With over 16 years of experience in mainstream journalism, he is a seasoned expert in national governance, electoral politics, and bureaucratic affairs. Having covered high-stakes beats including the Election Commission of India (ECI), intelligence, and urban development, Jatin provides authoritative analysis of the forces shaping Indian democracy. He is an alumnus of Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU) and the prestigious Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai, where he specialized in Print Journalism. Expertise High-Stakes Beat Coverage: Throughout his decade-and-a-half career, Jatin has covered some of the most sensitive and influential beats in the country, including: The Election Commission of India (ECI): Monitoring electoral policy, reforms, and the conduct of national and state polls. National Security & Intelligence: Reporting on the internal mechanisms and developments within India's security apparatus. Urban Development: Analyzing the policies and bureaucratic processes driving the transformation of India’s cities. National Political Bureau: In his current role, he tracks the intersection of policy and politics, offering deep-dive reporting on the Union government and national political movements. Academic Credentials: Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU): Alumnus of one of Delhi's premier institutions. Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai: Specialized in Print Journalism at India's most prestigious journalism school. ... Read More