BJP MP demands Parl session begin with homage to soldiers

Tarun Vijay, BJP MP and Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence has demanded that a new protocol be created and every Parliament session must begin with homage to martyred soldiers.
In a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Hamid Ansari, Vijay said usually the Parliament session begins with paying homage to various prominent leaders, authors and artists who passed away during the intervening period, and remembering victims of various calamities.
"We pay homage to the dead in natural and other disasters, road, air and railway accidents occurred in India or elsewhere in any part of the planet. Why can't we start a tradition paying homage to the soldiers who laid their lives for the Motherland, during the intervening period of the previous session and the new one?," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Vijay has also sought time from the Chairman next for pushing his demand for its implementation ahead of the Budget session starting February 23.
He had earlier raised the demands in Rajya Sabha during the last winter session when the entire House, crossing all political lines had supported him. Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien, who was charing the House at the time, had also supported him.
"Let a decision be taken that every session of both Houses of the Parliament shall begin with paying homage to the martyred soldiers also," he said, asking why it cannot be implemented from this session itself, beginning February 23.

"Merely showing a praiseworthy and spirited sympathies for Lance Naik Hanamanthappa is not enough, we must have an institutionalised protocol for showing the soldiers that we respect them," Vijay said, making his demand.