New Delhi, Dec 19: A heated confrontation unfolded in Parliament premises on Thursday during a protest by Opposition MPs alleging disrespect towards Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The incident escalated when BJP MP Pratap Sarangi accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of pushing an MP, causing a chain reaction that led Sarangi to fall and sustain a head injury.

Sarangi claimed, “Rahul Gandhi pushed an MP, and he collided with me. I fell and hit my head, which is bleeding. The push was initiated by Rahul Gandhi.”

Denying claims of deliberately pushing the BJP leader, Rahul Gandhi told reporters, “It might be recorded in the cameras. BJP MPs were stopping us from entering Parliament. They blocked and threatened us. This is our right to protest.”

The protest was held against Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks in the Rajya Sabha, which the Opposition claimed insulted Dr Ambedkar. The Opposition demanded HM Shah’s removal from the Cabinet.

Meanwhile, BJP MPs staged a counter-protest, accusing Congress of disrespecting the Constitution and Dr Ambedkar. Led by BJP MP Anurag Thakur, they raised slogans such as “Congress party maafi maango, Ambedkar ka apmaan nahi sahega Hindustan (Congress must apologise, India will not tolerate the insult to Ambedkar).”

Thakur further criticised the Congress, stating, “The Nehru-Gandhi family has repeatedly disrespected Dr. Ambedkar. Despite being the architect of the Constitution, they worked to defeat him in elections and delayed honouring him with the Bharat Ratna, which was finally awarded by a non-Congress government.”

Mumbai, Dec 19: The search and rescue operations resumed on Thursday morning to trace out at least two tourists still ‘missing’ after an Indian Navy speedboat crashed into a passenger ferry off the Gateway of India in the Arabian Sea on Wednesday evening claiming 13 lives, including that of four naval personnel, officials said.

In one of the worst-ever maritime disasters around Mumbai, 13 people were killed while another 105 were rescued when the chockful ferry, ‘Neelkamal’ was going from Gateway of India to Elephanta Isles, the famed UNESCO World Heritage site and was hit by the Navy speedboat.

An official said that the Indian Navy, Marine Police and other agencies have deployed their vessels to search for the two persons who were thrown into the waters after the deadly collision in mid-sea, around 5 kms from the Gateway of India, in the water channel near the tiny Butcher Island oil terminal.

The Indian Navy officially said that one of its speedboats which was on engine trials developed a snag, the pilot lost control and rammed with full force into the tourist boat, as chilling videos of the incident surfaced late last night.

The passenger boat, a private catamaran named ‘Neelkamal’, was ferrying more than 100 tourists plus five crew members when the disaster struck like a bolt from the blue, around 4 P.M.

Official sources said that the Navy’s rigid inflatable boat undergoing engine trials crashed into the ‘Neelkamal’ at high speed, overturning it and throwing most of the tourists into the sea near Karanja on the Raigad coast, around 10 kms from the origin point, Gateway of India.

The owner of the vessel, Rajendra Padte, said that the ‘Neelkamal’ had departed on its regular voyage to Elephanta Islands around 3.15 P.M and barely a couple of minutes later the tragedy was reported, “but it was not our fault”.

Peasants & Workers Party of India (PWP) General Secretary and ex-legislator Jayant P. Patil, who was present at the spot slammed the concerned authorities for the massive tragedy with the ‘Neelkamal’ sinking soon afterwards.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis plus several Opposition leaders condoled the tragedy and the loss of innocent lives.

The PM announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh and the CM announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each deceased, plus financial assistance to all the injured.

A civic official said that the JNPA Hospital has admitted 57 people, 24 in the Naval Dockyard medical facility, one in INHS Ashvini Hospital, 13 in INHS Sanghani (Karanja), 10 in St. George Hospital, and 12 in a hospital on the mainland at Karanja, plus around 8 who recovered have been discharged from the concerned hospitals.

Damascus, Dec 19: Syria’s interim authorities said that the previous government’s soldiers and officers fleeing to Iraq are now welcome to return home without fear of reprisal.

In a statement, the interim authorities pledged on Wednesday that military personnel who fled to neighbouring Iraq during the final stages of the previous government’s downfall would not face harassment or punishment upon their return.

It added that these returnees could use any border crossing and that the interim authorities would work directly with the Iraqi government to streamline procedures to facilitate their homecoming.

No timeline was provided for when their return might begin, Xinhua news agency reported.

More than 1,000 Syrian army personnel entered Iraq through the Qaim border crossing on December 7, a day before the overthrow of the former Syrian government by militant groups. The Iraqi side stressed that their presence is temporary until arrangements are made for their return to their country.

Authorities also reported a complicated flow of displaced people across the Lebanon-Syria border.

OCHA said that since December 8, Lebanese authorities recorded less than 10,000 Syrian refugees returning from Lebanon to Syria.

Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency reported that Lebanese authorities estimated around 30,000 displaced people returned as of Friday from Syria to Lebanon, including mostly Syrians but also Lebanese nationals, since the November 27 cessation of hostilities announcement for Lebanon.

The International Organisation for Migration reported a fluid situation with fluctuating movements continuing daily through both formal and informal border crossings. Humanitarians reported earlier that Syrian border officials abandoned their posts following the Damascus takeover.