New Delhi: Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday suspended six Congress lawmakers for five sittings for creating a ruckus and disrupting the proceedings of the House.

In the morning, Congress members staged a sit-in near Mahajan’s chair throughout the Question Hour as she refused to permit discussion on cow vigilantism and mob lynching issues.

Defiant Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge, however, went ahead and started speaking on the matter. He said Dalits (those belonging to lower castes) and minorities were being targeted by cow vigilantes across the country.

“Incidents of lynching in the name of cow protection are happening in the country continuously. Due to this, there is fear among Dalits, Muslims and women. The central government has failed to stop such incidents. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that strong action will be taken against the culprits but till date no action has been taken,” Kharge said in the House.

Mahajan asked Kharge to submit a notice for discussion but he in turn requested her to convert the adjournment motion notice on the issue to a regular debate.

He demanded the presence of Prime Minister (PM) Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh during the discussion.

After Kharge was disallowed to make a statement, the Congress MPs started raising anti-government slogans and tore and threw paper towards Mahajan. Mahajan then suspended them and adjourned the House until afternoon.

The six MPs who have been suspended are Gaurav Gogoi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Ranjit Ranjan, Sushmita Dev, MK Raghav and K Suresh.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told Gulf News later that the lawmakers were requested to go back to their seats, but they remained adamant on having a discussion on cow vigilantism.

“We were ready to discuss the issue of cow vigilantism and mob lynching, but the Congress MPs did not let the Question Hour work,” he said.

Kumar said the issue of cow protection related to national sentiment.

“The whole country considers cows as mother. But if someone takes the law in their hands, it will not be tolerated. The Home Ministry had written to states on this in 2016, it is a law-and-order issue and state governments should take strict action,” he said.

Earlier in 2015, Mahajan had suspended 25 Congress Members of Parliament (MPs) for five days for wilfully obstructing the proceedings of the House.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress member Saugata Roy criticised the Modi government for failing to control mob lynching in the name of cow vigilantism.