Guwahati News Desk: In a fire incident in Canberra, the capital of Australia, the front doors and exterior of the Old Parliament House were severely damaged on Thursday.
Condemning the act, the Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said it was an “absolute disgraceâ if the fire had been deliberately lit.
He said, “This is the parliament that for so long underpinned the freedoms we have as a democracy, and made the decisions that formed us as a nation, fighting for the increase of rights and corrections to our colonial past.”
He added, “If someone is trying to make a statement then it is a very bad one that will be received with overwhelming disgust.”
Although the cause of the fire was not immediately clear, yet a group of protesters campaigning for their indigenous rights were seen gathering outside the building.
However, the protesters asserted that the fire began as a traditional smoking ceremony that eventually got out of control.
Meanwhile, the Australian Capital Territory emergency services informed that they were called to the scene just before noon and on reaching the spot they found the front doors alight.
On witnessing the chaotic scene, the building was immediately evacuated as a precaution and the blaze was eventually extinguished by the crews.
Moreover, several videos surfaced all over social media that showed the flames leaping up the doors, a thick plume of smoke rising above the building, and police officers dragging protesters away from the front steps.
However, even prior to Thursday’s incident, several protesters had lit a fire at the mentioned building on December 21 and thus, for the past five days daily protests have been taking place outside the building.
