NEW DELHI, Dec 22
HITTING THE streets over the mass suspension of Opposition MPs — their first joint protest outside Parliament — senior leaders of the INDIA bloc on Friday accused the BJP government of throttling parliamentary democracy and subverting the Constitution, signalling, once again, their intention to frame these issues as key talking points in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. A day after the turbulent Winter Session of Parliament — which saw a record suspension of 146 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs — came to an end, senior Opposition leaders addressed a protest in Delhi. Among those present were Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Left’s Sitaram Yechury and D Raja, RJD’s Manoj Jha, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva. Similar protests were also held in several state capitals.
While Kharge and several other leaders said democracy was under threat, Rahul, once again linked the breach to unemployment — an issue which he feels would strike a chord with the people.
“The obvious first question is how did they get inside. How did they bring the gas canisters inside Parliament? They could have brought something else too…The second question is why did they do the protest. The reason is unemployment. There is massive unemployment in the country…the youth of the country are not able to find jobs,” Rahul said.
“I told someone who does surveys to carry out a survey in any city to find out how much time India’s youth spend on mobile phones…on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook… in a day. I was surprised.
The answer is seven-and-a-half hours…because Narendra Modi has not given them jobs, their jobs have been snatched…they are left spending long hours on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter… This is India’s reality,” he said.
“That is why the youth… breached security… and that is also your fault… This feeling is there in the minds of every youth. The media would not talk about unemployment… the media says Rahul Gandhi shot a video in Parliament House…The media did not raise questions on the suspension of 150 MPs… they did not ask Amit Shah questions about the breach…the media doesn’t talk about unemployment,” he said.
He said the MPs who were suspended were the voice of the people of India. “Every MP brings with him or her lakhs of votes. You have not just insulted the 150 MPs, you have shut out the voice of 60 per cent of India’s population,” he said. “The more hatred the BJP spreads, the more love and brotherhood INDIA parties will spread,” he said.
Taking potshots at Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and the government over claims that the mimicry of Dhankhar by TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee – which Rahul recorded on his cellphone — was an insult to the Jat community and farmers. “The government told us in the House… I was shocked to hear persons occupying high constitutional posts saying that he was being insulted because he belongs to a particular caste. If you have the authority to protect the country…have taken an oath to abide by the Constitution… then how can you talk about caste and creed inside (Parliament)… if this is your plight then what will be the plight of a Dalit like me,” Kharge said.
“When I used to get up in the House… I was never given a chance. When women are raped, when Dalits are crushed, farmers and workers are attacked, when the Constitution is torn to shreds… When I used to get up, permission was not given to even read out the notice that we have given on these issues… Should I say the BJP and its government is not allowing a Dalit to speak? You are occupying a Constitutional post and you are crying… samvidhan ke tahat, democracy ke tahat, sab ko baat karne ka haq hai (Under the Constitution, under democracy, all have the right to speak) and you cannot snatch away that freedom,” Kharge said.
He said the INDIA alliance was formed to counter the BJP government’s efforts to destroy democracy and the Constitution. “They are trying to crush the Dalits, workers, farmers, women… they suspended 146 MPs to destroy democracy… we have to fight unitedly,” he said.
“We are fighting together to save the country, save democracy and to save the Constitution. I am happy that the Opposition leaders have come together. Jab hum sab log ek hote hain, tab akela Modi kuch nahin kar sakta (When we all unite as one, Modi alone cannot do anything),” he said.
RJD leader Manoj Jha said the government wants an “Opposition-mukt Parliament, resistance-free streets, player-free sports and question-free media. This battle is not just about suspended MPs. When he goes abroad, our Prime Minister proudly proclaims that he is from India, the mother of democracy. Now 150 MPs have been suspended… with what face will you say you have come from the mother of democracy… The mother is ailing…is in the intensive care unit,” he said.
“When the issue of Kashmir came, we said you are declaring normalcy in Kashmir from Delhi durbar and that Kashmir is not feeling normalcy. Now you want to convert the country into Kashmir… you want to impose restrictions on everything… the streets will erupt… you cannot resort to suspensions on the street,” he said.
While Pawar said the government was trying to silence the Opposition, Yechury said the unprecedented suspensions raise questions on whether parliamentary democracy would survive if the BJP returns to power.
“They think they can silence the Opposition by doing this. We are ready to pay any price to save our democracy,” Pawar said.
Referring to the government’s claims about ‘Amrit Kaal’, the Marxist veteran said: “They are talking about Amrit Kaal… remember how amrit was found. Vishnu Purana says ‘amrit’ came from the churning of the ocean, but it first fell in the wrong hands. Today, the ‘amrit’ is in the wrong hands, we have to get it back, and that is our pledge,” he said.
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Raja said the government was trying to make Parliament, which represents the sovereign will of the people, redundant. “If you eliminate the Opposition by hook or by crook, you are undermining Parliament, you are making Parliament redundant. If Parliament becomes redundant, democracy dies, democracy is killed. This is what Mr Modi and his government is doing. This is what we call fascism, fascist dictatorship,” he said.
The protest was also attended by CPI(ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya, RSP’s N K Premachandran and representatives of the TMC, National Conference, JMM, Samajwadi Party, RLD and AAP.
