NEW DELHI, March 18 (AFP) - India's lower house of parliament adjourned a session Monday amid uproar over violence by Hindu extremists campaigning to build a controversial temple in Ayodhya.
Opposition MPs stormed the well of the lower house just after the start of the session, demanding a debate over an attack Saturday by Hindu hardliners on the legislature of the eastern state of Orissa.
The 500-strong mob had been angered by state lawmakers' remarks against the temple-building drive.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, speaking to the upper house of parliament, voiced dismay that the activists had shouted "Long Live Vajpayee" while attacking the Orissa legislature.
"I have heard that they shouted Atal Behari Vajpayee Zindabad (long live)," Vajpayee told parliament.
"I would prefer to die rather that have such people say Zindabad to me or be associated in any with their act of hooliganism."
The attack was allegedly carried out by members of the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council - VHP), which has spearheaded the temple-building programme, and the militant Bajrang Dal.
"The VHP and the Bajrang Dal are marauders of parliamentary democracy," senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Somnath Chatterjee told the lower house.
"They make inflammatory remarks, openly show their disdain for democratic institutions such as the Supreme Court and legislative assemblies. Yet, they are left unchecked to create havoc by the government of the day," he added.
Deputy Speaker P.M. Sayeed adjourned the lower house session just after it began. The parliament had been due to consider a controversial new federal anti-terrorism law described as draconian by opposition parties.
Under the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance, any person could be detained on suspicion that he or she may possess information relating to terrorism.
Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said there was "no question" of the Hindu nationalist-led government condoning the assault on the Orissa legislature "directly or indirectly".
"Whether it is an attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly or the Orissa Assembly, there is no ambiguity in the government's position." said Singh, referring to assaults on the parliament in insurgency-rocked Srinagar.
The parliament in New Delhi was also attacked in December by militants allegedly linked to Pakistan.
"When parliament was attacked on December 13, I felt angry. But the attack on the Orissa assembly made me feel ashamed," said Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, a one-time champion of the temple-building movement.
Advani said he was proud to be a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu revivalist organization that is ideological springboard for the VHP and other more militant movements.
But he said he would be "ashamed" if any group linked to the RSS were involved in the Orissa attack.
"Democracy is one of the greatest strengths of India and anyone who tries to strike at its root cannot be spared," he said.
Opposition MPs also demanded debate Monday on the communal riots in the western state of Gujarat, where some 700 people -- most of them Muslims -- have been killed since a February 27 attack by a Muslim-led crowd on a train carrying Hindu hardliners from Ayodhya.
The RSS said in a statement Sunday that the violence was a spontaneous reaction to the "horrible and ghastly" train attack.
"Let Muslims understand that their real safety lies in the goodwill of the majority," the RSS said.
Scattered violence continued overnight in Gujarat, where a Muslim man was in critical condition after being stabbed by two Hindu men, according to police.
Police said they also opened fire on a crowd of some 4,000 people, as Hindu and Muslim mobs rampaged in the capital Ahmedabad despite a curfew.
But with the majority of violence subsiding during the day, police said Monday they had lifted or eased daytime curfews in most parts of the state.