Can the Prime Minister’s words become a source of embarrassment in parliament?
The answer lies in what happened in parliament today. Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankar desperately pleaded with the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge not to use “derogatory” expressions in parliament. The Leader of the Opposition responded, “I am only recalling what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. Pearls that came out of his mouth. The words of a leader who is idolised by the ruling party.”
Expressing bewilderment, Kharge repeatedly wondered what was wrong in repeating the Prime Minister’s words. He said, “Modi spread hatred in society during the election. People understood the government had nothing substantive in terms of achievements after 10 years and hence the Prime Minister was trying to incite passions. Power comes and goes. But nobody should mislead people and lie repeatedly in the lust for power. I have a full record of the Prime Minister’s objectionable speeches. I would like to quote three statements of the Prime Minister with a request that they should not be expunged from proceedings. Modi said,
‘1. Ye Congress ke log samapatti ikatthi kar ke kisko baatenge? Jinke jyada bacche hai, unko baatenge. Ghuspaithiyon ko baatenge. Kya aapki mehnat ki kamai ka paisa ghuspaithiyon ko diya jayenga? Mataon behno ke sone ka hisab karenge aur baant denge.
2. Inki nazar mataaon behno ki sampatti chheenane par hai. Aisa khel khela ja raha hai, unka mangalsutra, us par bhi inki nazar hai.
3. Agar inko apne vote-bank ke saamne mujra karna hai to karen (These Congress people want to collect your properties and distribute it among those who produce more children, who are infiltrators..’ will your assets be given to infiltrators? They will make a calculation of gold belonging to mothers and sisters and distribute it. They intend to snatch the property of mothers and sisters. They have set their sight on even the women’s mangalsutra. If they want to do mujra before their vote-bank, let them do it).”
The Rajya Sabha chairman said, “This will not go on record, this is derogatory.”
Kharge rebutted him, saying, “This is the language of the Prime Minister.” This was followed by a prolonged ruckus in the House, with the chairperson accusing the opposition members of shameful behaviour. But Kharge said he was not speaking untruth and every citizen had heard the Prime Minister speak this language. “I am reproducing his Amrit Vaani,” he argued, promising to send proof as the Chairman was stressing the need for authentication.
The Congress president also questioned the role of the Election Commission in enforcing the model code of conduct despite issuing strict warnings against any appeal to voters by misusing caste and religion. Kharge said, “The Prime Minister talked about mandir-masjid and Hindu-Muslim 421 times. He referred to Muslim-Pakistan 224 times. He linked the Congress manifesto to a particular religion. In 77 days of campaign, the Congress lodged 117 complaints with the Election Commission; out of which 14 were against the Prime Minister. No action was taken against the Prime Minister. The Presidential address did not express any concern over these violations.”
While the BJP members vociferously protested, opposition members cried: “Shame-Shame”. Kharge further said, “Hum kisanon ki baat karte hain, toe modi ji bhains kholne ki baat karte hain. Hum BJP dwara desh ko baatne ki baat karte hain, toe Modi ji Aurangzeb aur Mughal ki baat karte hain. Hum berozgari aur paper-leak ki baat karte hain, toe Modi ji mangalsutra aur mujra ki baat karte hain. Vipaksh Janata ki baat karti hai, toe Modi ji apne Mann ki baat karte hain (When we talk about farmers, Modi starts talking about buffaloes being taken away. When we talk of BJP’s divisive politics, Modi talks about Aurangzeb and Mughals. When we talk of unemployment and paper leak, Modi rembers mangalsutra and mujra. When the Opposition talks about the people, Modi delivers his own Mann ki baat).”
Lamenting that Modi called the opposition alliance ‘Ghamandia Gathbandhan’, Kharge said, “The President said in her address to the joint session of Parliament, ‘In this era of communication revolution, disruptive forces are conspiring to weaken democracy and create fissures in the society. These forces are present within the country and are also operating from outside the country. These forces resort to rumour mongering, misleading the people and misinformation’. She is absolutely correct. I have fought several elections. But I saw for the first time that the Prime Minister made such statements that hurt the nation’s dignity. The Prime Minister tried his best to weaken democracy, to divide society and to spread misinformation. But he didn’t succeed. He repeatedly resorted to lies, and distorted facts and tried to create divisions on the basis of caste, religion and language. This has happened at the Prime Minister’s level for the first time. No Prime Minister ever did this.”
Amidst chants of shame-shame by the opposition MPs, Kharge added, “This hurt India’s prestige in the entire world. You portrayed Modi as Vishwaguru. But the truth is exposed through some of the headlines of big newspapers on different countries. A French newspaper said, ‘Ugly speech, but not a surprise’. Washington Post wrote, ‘Modi accused of hate speech towards India’s Muslims in election rally’. CNN said, ‘Modi’s Muslim remarks sparks hate speech accusation as India’s mammoth election deepens divide.”
Quoting other newspapers like the Guardian, Kharge wondered how such a negative perception about Modi was created if he indeed was Vishwaguru. He added, “Some newspapers recently wrote how communal tensions triggered violence and demolition of houses of Muslims. If you exaggerate somebody’s stature… this is bound to happen.”
