Indian Parliament members hold banners demanding another separate state

NEW DELHI, Aug. 5, 2013 (Photo : Xinhua/Partha Sarkar)

Indian Parliament saw disruptions on the first of its monsoon session which opened Monday over the setting up of a new state, which has caused widespread controversy in the country.

Parliament Speaker Meira Kumar caused for return to order after some members of parliament left their seats and shouted their opinions against the establishment of a new state in the southern state of Andhara Pradesh. Some other lawmakers asked for the setting up of a new state of Assam in northeast India.

The Congress-led government last week approved a resolution for the state of Telangana to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh, triggering protests across the state against the decision and a domino effect across the country. Some argue that the division of Andhra Pradesh will lead to further internal tension between different ethnic and communal groups in some states.

The decision also led to a large-scale strike in the eastern state of West Bengal’s Darjeeling area, where local tribal people call for the establishment of a separate state. Some tribal people in the northeast state of Assam also demanded to set up a separate Bodoland state. Some political parties in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the country’s largest state, has called for dividing the state into four. <Xinhua/NEWSis>