The Judiciary is No Longer Sacred: Mahua Moitra
SUSHRI MAHUA MOITRA (KrishnaNagar, West Bengal, All India Trinamool Congress):
Hon. Chairperson, Sir, I rise to speak against the Motion and in support of the amendments moved by my Party to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address.
Far too many of our fellow citizens today languish in jail or bear the burden of judicial and police harassment simply for asking questions of this Government or choosing to voice an opinion on the state of affairs in our country. So, I, as a Parliamentarian, garbed in parliamentary privilege, now choose to use this platform that the people have given me to ask the questions that the people want to ask and to give voice to their thoughts so that this Government may know that arresting, attacking, and repressing voices will not hold. I trust my hon. colleagues in the Treasury Benches will not shout me down and you, hon. Chairperson, Sir, will let me speak for the entirety of my allotted time and that the Lok Sabha TV, paid by my taxpayers’ money, will not turn the screens off.
The American journalist, Elmer Davis’s words about the United States are just as relevant for the celebrations of the 72nd anniversary of the birth of our Republic that this Republic was not created by cowards and cowards would not preserve it. Today, I speak of cowardice and courage, and of the difference between the two; of those cowards who hide behind the false bravado of authority, of power, of hate, of bigotry, of untruth, and dare to call it courage. After all, this Government has turned propaganda and disinformation into a cottage industry.
The biggest success of the Government is the recasting of cowardice as courage. I will lay out various instances where this Government has demonstrated courage.
The Government claims that it has shown courage to bring in a law that questions on arbitrary parameters who is or who is not an Indian. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act was passed in 2019 in this House on the pretext of granting citizenship to persecuted Hindus and other minorities in the neighbouring countries. At the same time, it threw into an abyss of insecurity millions of Indians who have been living in this land for generations. But the rules by which this Act will be implemented were not yet prepared by December 2020 according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The deadline has yet again been extended till April 08.02.2021. If indeed this Government cares so much for those persecuted in neighbouring countries, why does it miss the deadline after deadline to notify these rules? Meanwhile, very many of us have mustered the courage to tell the Government “कागज नहीं दिखाएंगे”. Trying to exert Central influence over Shantiniketan, Tagore’s heaven, is not enough to change their colours.
Only a small portion of Jana Gana Mana was adopted as our National Anthem. I urge the Government to read the rest of it. Maybe, it will help them understand Tagore as they call him and Bengal a little better. My colleague, the respected floor leader of the Congress Party happened to also quote these very words. But I do not think repeating them over and over again would do our nation some good.
“Ohoroho Tobo Aahbaano Prachaarito,
Shuni Tabo Udaaro Baani Hindu Bauddho Shikho Jaino,
Parashiko Musholmaano Christaani Purabo Pashchimo Aashey,
Tabo Singhaasano Paashey Premohaaro Hawye Gaanthaa
Jano Gano Oikyo Bidhaayako Jayo Hey.
‘Hail Unity, Hail Religious Diversity’.”
India was the single worst performer among developing countries in the year 2020. Even if we believe this Government’s Economic Survey, the economy lowered by 7.7 per cent in 2020 and will rise by 11 per cent in 2021. So, in effect, by 2022, i.e. over a two-year time span, the economy will be flat just as the 2019 GDP number. This Survey proclaims that the growth is the biggest poverty alleviator. Hon. Members of this House, we are going to have no growth for two whole years. I do not understand the celebration.
I come from a rural constituency and a source of migrant workers. The distress in the MSME sector is real. This rebound is one where large and strong enterprises have become stronger. It is not V-shaped, it is K-shaped. One per cent of rich and successful citizens have become richer and the pains of the MSMEs have only increased. The Government had the courage to say that it gave Rs. 1,13,000 crore via the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme only to take the same money away from those very same people and the middle class in the way of increased cess on petrol and diesel. We are not a nation that is growing and sharing its wealth, we seem to be a nation that is only finding ways to share our poverty.
The hype today is that post budget, the sensex jumped. In a country where only six crore people pay taxes, only 4.6 per cent of the total population, how many do you think are the investors in the sensex that they should jump for joy when the sensex jumps? This is the courage to use the official channels of the Ministry of External Affairs to respond to social media posts by an eighteen-year old climate activistand an American pop star where not even one single ministry has been deputed by this Government to try and look out for food, water, and basic sanitation needs of the farmers and their families who have been camping at the border for almost ninety days.
And finally, this is the courage to bring in three farm laws when the Opposition,farmersacrossthecountry,aswellastheGovernment’soldestally warned it was unacceptable.
I wish to remind this Government that India under Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri committed three things to Sant Fateh Singh, the Akali leader - the creation of a Punjabi-speaking State, open-ended public procurement, and an assured return on agricultural produce. These farm laws threaten to snatch away two of these guarantees. These laws were arrived at without consensus, tabled without scrutiny, and rammed down this nation’s throat with the brute force of the Treasury Benches. They have firmly established this Government’s motto of brutality over morality. And everyone else in this country has been portrayed as a coward or a terrorist – from the farmers, to the students, to the old ladies of Shaheen Bagh.
You say you have courage! You claim you have done so many things that no other Government before you has done. Yes, that is true! In true fascist fashion, you have made every act of pettiness, of vengeance, of hate, of bigotry, a part of your narrative of courage. The reason no one has done it before you is not because no one had the courage, but simply because it was not the right thing to do. Has that thought ever struck you?
And India’s tragedy today is not just that her government has failed her but that her other democratic pillars, the media and the judiciary, have failed her too. Lord Hain, the Labour Peer, said in the House of Lords, “What is the point of being a Member of Parliament either in the Commons or in the Lords if you do not discharge your responsibilities and where appropriate use the privileges that you have in order to promote justice and liberty?”
So, today, like a true child of Bengal, I will stand here and be courageous. Trust me Mr. Baalu, we have not lost the fighting spirit. Even though the Government’sspinfactorieswilllaterportrayitascowardiceorevenplagiarism, I will lay out a few home truths by using my Parliamentary privilege that guards me from charges of sedition and contempt for anything I say in this House. And Mr. Law Minister, Sir, if you are present on the premises, with all due respect, this time you have neither the right to shut me up nor to try and get my words expunged from the record.
... (Expunged as ordered by the Chair) The judiciary stopped being sacred when it chose to squander the greatest opportunity that any bench of the highest court of this land has ever seen to reinforce the founding principles of our democratic republic and to uphold the rights enshrined in Part 3 of our Constitution.…(Interruptions)
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEAVY INDUSTRIES AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISES (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL):
Sir, she cannot discuss this in the House.… (Interruptions)
HON. CHAIRPERSON (SHRI N. K. PREMACHANDRAN):
One second please, Miss Moitra. The Minister is on his legs.
DR. NISHIKANT DUBEY (GODDA):
Sir, I am on a point of order under Rule 352(v) .…(Interruptions)
SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL:
Sir, the hon. Member cannot discuss the Chief Justice of India here without giving prior notice and getting the approval of the Chair .…(Interruptions)
HON. CHAIRPERSON:
Mohua Moitra ji, please be seated. This House is run by rules and procedure. When a Member raises a point of order, definitely it is a right of the Member to do so. So, I have to hear them and then I will pass the ruling.
DR. NISHIKANT DUBEY (GODDA):
Sir, Rule 352(v) says, “A member while speaking shall not reflect upon the conduct of persons in high authority unless the discussion is based on a substantive motion drawn in proper terms. “हम लोग यहां पर चीफ जस्टिस ऑफ इंडिया को डिस्कस कर रहे हैं। …(व्यवधान) भारत के राष्ट्रपति ने उस आदमी को नॉमिनेट कीया है। भारत के राष्ट्रपति के ऊपर डिस्कससन कर रहे हैं। … (व्यवधान) यदि इसी तरह सेचलता रहा, तो इस डेमोक्रेसी का बाजा बज जाएगा। … (व्यवधान) इसीलिए कि उन्होंने राम मंदिर का जजमेंट दिया। … (व्यवधान)
सर, हमने तो कभी बात नहीं कि वह चीफ जस्टिस काँग्रेस का … (व्यवधान) ऐसा नहीं हो सकता है। … (व्यवधान)
HON. CHAIRPERSON:
Shri Sougata Ray ji, what rule are you quoting?
PROF. SOUGATA RAY (DUM DUM):
Sir, I am going for the explanation under Rule 352(v). (1955/GM/VB) While the hon. Member Sushri Mahua Moitra spoke, she did not refer to any person by name; she did not mention anybody .… (Interruptions) मेघवाल जी, आप कुछ नहीं समझते हैं आप बैठिए। … (व्यवधान) Secondly, she referred to a person who was the Chief Justice. If that man would be Chief Justice now, no mention could be made against him, except by way of impeachment or by a Substantive Motion. That man is a retired Chief Justice. He is not in high authority and his name has not been mentioned. Not a single word of what Sushri Mahua Moitra said should be expunged. Sir, I appeal to your good sense and your fair play and justice that do not let this lady be stifled by lenience of this ruling party.
HON. CHAIRPERSON (SHRI N. K. PREMACHANDRAN):
Hon. Minister, do you want to say something? श्री अर्जुन राम मेघवाल:
चेयरमैन साहब, मैं यह कह रहा हूँ कि माननीय सदस्या जो बोल रही थीं, इन्होंने चीफ जकस्टस ऑफ इंकडया पर … (Not recorded) का आरोप लगाया है, क्या यह हमारे लिए शर्म की बात नहीं है और हम उस पर इस हाउस में डिस्कस कर रहे हैं और सौगत राय जैसे व्यकि इसको डिफेंड कर रहे हैं। … (व्यवधान) ये इतने विद्वान आदमी हैं, इनको डिफेंड कर रहे हैं, यह तो … (Not recorded) है। … (व्यवधान) आप ओपनली चीफ जकस्टस ऑफ इंडिया पर … (Not recorded) का आरोप लगा रहे हैं। … (व्यवधान)
HON. CHAIRPERSON:
Let me pass the observation of the Chair. We will go through the proceedings. If anything is affecting the high authority and if anything is unparliamentary, definitely it will be looked into and it will be corrected. Try to avoid such observations. … (Interruptions)
SUSHRI MAHUA MOITRA (KrishnaNagar, West Bengal, All India Trinamool Congress):
Hon. Chairperson Sir, it is extremely important that I not only not avoid them, but I bring them up because I did not accuse the Hon. gentleman ... (Expunged as ordered by the Chair). Let me put it on record that it is a great ... (Expunged as ordered by the Chair) I did not do it .… (Interruptions) Instead, it let our migrants walk to their deaths; it let our greatest activists and modern writers rot in jail .… (Interruptions)
SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL:
Sir, she is repeating … (Not recorded) … (Interruptions) She is not obeying the order. She is again repeating. … (Interruptions)
HON. CHAIRPERSON: Anything objectionable will not go on record. … (Interruptions)
SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL:
She is repeating the same thing against the Chief Justice of India. … (Interruptions)
HON. CHAIRPERSON:
Mahua Moitra ji, please be seated. You have already made your observation. … (Interruptions)
SUSHRI MAHUA MOITRA (KrishnaNagar, West Bengal, All India Trinamool Congress):
Sir, let me continue my speech. Instead, the judiciary stopped being sacred when it chose to squander the greatest opportunity that any bench of the highest court of this land has ever seen.
HON. CHAIRPERSON:
Please address the Chair; please listen to the Chair. … (Interruptions)
DR. NISHIKANTDUBEY (GODDA):
Hon. Chairperson, I quote Rule 356: “The Speaker, after having called the attention of the House to the conduct of a member who persists in irrelevance or in tedious repetition either in one’s own arguments or of the arguments used by other members in debate, may direct that member to discontinue the speech. ”She is again repeating. आपके आब्ज़र्वैशन के बाद, she is again repeating….(Interruptions)
HON. CHAIRPERSON:
Nishikant ji, we have already disposed of the issue. If there is anything objectionable to the high authority of Chief Justice or if there is any allegation, definitely the Chair will go through the proceedings. If there is anything objectionable, it will be expunged.
SUSHRI MAHUA MOITRA (KrishnaNagar, West Bengal, All India Trinamool Congress):
Sir, the Judiciary stopped being sacred when it chose to squander the greatest opportunity that any Bench of the highest court of this land has ever seen to reinforce the founding principles of our democratic republic and to uphold the rights enshrined in Part III of our Constitution. Instead, it let migrants walk to their deaths. It let our greatest activists and modern writers rot in jail. It now sits back as a mute spectator when our young are prosecuted for cracking a joke. The Judiciary seems to have forgotten the Constitutional principle of separation of powers that Parliament and Parliament alone can legislate. If something is bad in law, then the courts can strike it down or stay it on grounds of unconstitutionality. But unless it is so, the courts must do nothing. The Government alone must face the consequences. If the Government has brought in the farm laws which are not acceptable to people, then either the Government will repeal the laws or the people will vote the Government out. We urgently need the sagacity and courage shown by the High Courts during the Emergency when they delivered the ADM Jabalpur and like decisions. The Supreme Court, unfortunately, is failing the common citizen and is being perceived as protecting the privileged and ironically only itself. A very large section of the Indian media has plummeted to new depths both in terms of lack of factual reporting as well as the total absence of journalistic ethics. Yet, even when the bar is so low, the WhatsApp chat leaks detailing correspondence between a large Government leaning media channel and the head of the TV ratings agency expose the utter filth and the crony capitalism that ironically this Government claim to be saving us from. What is left of the resolute media is being targeted with the provisions of the UAPA and other draconian laws. You keep taunting the Congress about the Emergency. But India today is in a state of undeclared emergency. But the Government has miscalculated. There is a fundamental difference between cowardice and courage. The coward is brave only when armed with power and authority. The truly courageous can fight even when unarmed. Do not forget this. Do not forget this when you tell the authorities in Ghaziabad to clear the protest site overnight when the help of the police and the bureaucracy. You are not being courageous. You are a … (Not recorded) wielding power. The truly brave came in droves from villages wielding nothing, but they believed that their cause is just. They were propelled by the spontaneous tears of their leader, not by the force of their water cannons. Do not forget this when you block the roads and cut the internet off in 17 of Haryana’s districts. You are not being brave. You are a … (Not recorded) wielding power. The State of Haryana gives 10 per cent of India’s Air Force and contributes to 11 per cent of the total strength of the Indian Navy. Its people can neither be turned anti-national, nor terrorist, nor Gaddars. Do not forget this when a peaceful 60-day movement is insidiously hijacked and then you slap FIRs on Punjab’s farmers. You are not being courageous. You are a … (Not recorded) wielding power. Baghel Singh and Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, leading their misls, captured Delhi way back in 1783 from the Mughals. Their descendants do not need a lesson in courage from those who captured Delhi only in 2014.
Tagore in his poem ‘Bandi Bir’, the captive warrior, an ode to Sardar Banda Singh Bahadur, wrote: “Eseche se ekdin, jibon mrityu payer bhritto, chitto vabonahin, eseche se ekdin”. That momentous day has arrived.
In the 125th year of Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth, the Central Government has made every attempt to hijack Netaji’s legacy and weave it into their own fake, narrow narrative of courage. But this nation needs to know that Netaji had two clarion calls, both embodiments of his courage and his spirit. One was the salutation, ‘Jai Hind’. Today, this Government has replaced this national greeting with a narrow, religious chant that it uses as war cry to heckle, to bully and to always, always remind the minority about who is in charge. Netaji’s second call was ‘Dilli Chalo’. This Government falls over itself to pay lip service to Netaji. But in truth, you blocked the borders in Singhu, in Ghazipur, in Tigri with walls and spikes for all those who actually want to come to Delhi to tell you that much like Subhas Chandra Bose, they too will not accept any halfway house. Netaji told us, never to lose faith in the destiny of India. And it is not India’s destiny to be ruled by cowards. The time has come for us to show courage.
गिरते हैं शहसवार ही मैदान-ए-जंग में,
वो तिफ़्ल क्या गिरेजो घटुनों केबल चले।
Repeal or nothing, Thank you.
>> END OF THE SPEECH BY MAHUA MOITRA <<
About | Clarification | Disclaimer
Sushri Mahua Moitra is Member of Parliament from KrishnaNagar Lok Sabha Constituency, West Bengal, from All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) (Popularly known as TMC). The text of her speech is taken from the parliamentary proceeding, as it was available on the Lok Sabha website on February 13, 2021. Mahua Moitra has delivered her speech in the Lok Sabha on February 08, 2021, and it found no parts of her speech were expunged as it was requested by some of the members. The present text is prepared carefully; however, if there is the difference the recorded video will have prevailed. This should be also noted that the Chairmen of Lok Sabha have the right to cut any part of the speech delivered in the Lok Sabha. In this situation, the official text should be considered the final text available with the Lok Sabha, however, her original speech available on YouTube will remain will be valid. This is also a kind request that if you found any mistake in the text different from the video available on YouTube, please inform us by commenting in the comment section for correction.
This transcript is prepared by Anil Kumar, with help of record available on Lok Sabha website, as of February 13, 2021, at 2:24 IST. Mahua Moitra delivered her speech in Lok Sabha on February 08, 2021, from 7:44 to 8:05 IST.
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This transcript is prepared by Anil Kumar, with help of record available on Lok Sabha website, as of February 13, 2021, at 2:24 IST. Mahua Moitra delivered her speech in Lok Sabha on February 08, 2021, from 7:44 to 8:05 IST.
Anil Kumar | Student of Life World
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