For most of last week the Rajya Sabha has not been able to function. Disruption of Parliament is not an edifying scene, especially when the whole nation can watch it unfold on live television. In its entire history there has not been a single day when the British House of Commons has been adjourned. Soon we may be in a position to say that there is not a single day when our Parliament has not been adjourned!
However deplorable and unfortunate this state of affairs is, it is important to understand what the cause of this impasse is. On December 1, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, a sitting Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh and the minister in charge of food processing, made a public speech in Delhi in which she said that those with the Bharatiya Janata Party are “Ramzadon”, and those against it are “Haramzadon”. There was a pan-Indian sense of outrage at her behaviour and the explicit communal sentiment underpinning it.
The sadhvi had violated her oath as an MP and a minister, breached the Constitution, apart from committing a non-compoundable offence under the Indian Penal Code for which she could be sent to jail. Naturally, the Opposition sought her dismissal from the Cabinet. The BJP leadership, however, thought that a regret expressed by her in both Houses of Parliament was enough. Under sustained pressure from the Opposition, largely expressed through forcing repeated adjournments of the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to both the Houses and expressed “disapproval” of such statements and requested the House to forgive the lady, including for the reason that she hailed “from a village”. The Opposition, whose demand from the beginning was her dismissal, was not satisfied, but with a view to forging a compromise, sought a resolution of the House condemning the use of this language.
The treasury benches were not agreeable even to this, so, finally, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha read out a statement exhorting all ministers and legislators to observe linguistic decorum.
Although this compromise was far removed from the not unreasonable demand of the Opposition for the sacking of the minister, it displayed requisite flexibility to enable the Rajya Sabha to run. However, just days after this, Sakshi Maharaj, a sitting MP of the BJP, made the unbelievable comment that Nathuram Godse was a patriot — a rashtra bhakt. At the same time, Yogi Adityanath, another sitting BJP MP, made several incendiary communal statements, and announced his resolve to spearhead a series of mass “reconversion” events, ghar wapsi, to bring back Christians and Muslims into the Hindu fold. There were simultaneously reports from Agra of Muslims being forcibly converted by the Dharma Jagran Samiti and the Bajrang Dal. Earlier, a church had also been burnt to the ground in Delhi, reportedly a case of arson.
The Opposition was up in arms again at these blatant attempts at igniting religious hatred. There were protests in the Lok Sabha, but there the numbers of the Opposition are miniscule compared to the “tyranny” of the majority. The situation is, however, quite different in the Rajya Sabha where the treasury benches are in a minority. Here, a united Opposition sought the Prime Minister’s presence at a discussion on the deliberate threats to India’s religious and social harmony, and wanted him to make a statement assuring the House of the government’s resolve to prevent a repeat of such provocations. The Prime Minister refused to oblige and the Rajya Sabha has not functioned since then.
Is the demand of the Opposition unreasonable? It was the Prime Minister who had made the statement expressing disapproval of Ms Jyoti’s remarks. His disapproval has had no impact on the behaviour of his own MPs. Was it not reasonable then to ask him to clarify his position? Besides, the subject admitted for discussion by the chairman — the “attack on the secular fabric of India” — went beyond the writ of any one ministry. When more than one ministry is involved, it is not uncommon for the Prime Minister, as the head of the entire Cabinet, to make a statement. Moreover, in the division of work decided upon by the Prime Minister, and duly notified by the Rashtrapatiji, all policy matters are exclusively the preserve of the Prime Minister. At stake was a policy matter involving the sanctity of the Constitution. There were objective reasons, therefore, to support the Opposition’s request.
There is another dimension to this situation. It is true that any minister can make a reply under the principle of collective responsibility of the Cabinet. However, democratic practice demands that if the entire Opposition requests a statement from the Prime Minister on a matter which it considers to be of vital importance, he must have the grace to respond positively. It can be said with near certainty that Jawaharlal Nehru, or Indira Gandhi, or Atal Behari Vajpayee would have required hardly any persuasion to respond positively to an appeal of this nature by a united Opposition.
One consequence of the Prime Minister’s refusal is that other rabid elements of the Sangh Parivar are getting more emboldened. Even as the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for yet another day on Friday, there was news that Rajeshwar Singh, the leader of the Dharma Jagran Samiti, had proclaimed that there is no place for Christians or Muslims in India and that he will ensure an exclusively Hindu Rashtra by 2021. Chandra Prakash Kaushik, president of the Hindu Mahasabha also announced that his organisation will put up statues of Godse in all public places in India. And, the ministry of human resource development has been unable to satisfactorily explain why it wanted schools to remain open on Christmas.
Our worst fears are coming true. Religious polarisation may get the BJP short-term electoral dividends, but in the long term it will mean the end of governance, social peace and harmony, and the safety and well-being of ordinary, innocent citizens. When the nation is hurtling at break neck speed towards a communal conflagration, and the Prime Minister refuses to speak, can the Parliament function normally as if nothing is at stake?
Author-diplomat Pavan K. Varma has been recently elected to the Rajya Sabha
