A day after being marshalled out from the Rajya Sabha, two of the suspended members said there was no question of tendering an apology over their behaviour on women's bill as they were raising the cause of the OBC, dalit and minority women in the House.
"Even if our membership goes, we will not apologise," Kamal Akhtar of the Samajwadi Party told reporters outside Parliament House.
Seven members belonging to SP, RJD, LJP and an unattached MP were suspended for their unruly behaviour in the House over the Women's Reservation Bill.
Ejaz Ali, unattached member and formerly with the JD(U), said, "They (government) should apologise before the nation for throwing us out of the House by using marshals" .
Both Akhtar and Ali were in the Parliament House complex even though they cannot enter Rajya Sabha due to their suspension for the remaining part of the Budget session.
Akhtar asked, "Apologise for what? We are members of Parliament and duty bound to raise the views of the people. In fact the government should apologise to the women of backward
classes, Muslims and the dalits".
He said the motion to suspend them from the House came from the government and not the chairman.
"It was the dictatorship of the government which used force to keep us out from the House," he said.
Ali said apology is not acceptable to them. "They (government) have brought a wrong Bill. We are very happy that we have been suspended for a cause," he added.
The unattached member took a dig at the Congress, BJP and the Left for uniting to keep out the OBC, Muslim and dalit women from the ambit of reservation.
