NEW DELHI, Nov 27: Adopting a highly conciliatory approach towards the Opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the Government would rule by consensus and not force decisions through majority and ruled out any review of the Constitution.
With his Government under attack inside and outside Parliament over the issue of growing intolerance, he said in the Lok Sabha that ‘India first’ is the only religion and Constitution the only ‘holy book’ for his government which is committed to working for all sections and religions.
Replying to a two-day long debate in the Lok Sabha to commemorate the Constitution Day and the 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar, Modi also rejected the Congress contention that the NDA government was trying to deny credit to or was undermining the role of leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, to whom he paid rich tributes.
The House later unanimously adopted a resolution hailing the contribution of Ambedkar and other founding fathers of the Constitution.
Allaying apprehensions of the Opposition that the government may tamper with the Constitution, especially on use of terms like secular, Modi said “nobody can dare (such a course) as it will amount to suicide”.
“Preserving the sanctity of the Constitution is the responsibility of all of us. The government may be formed on the basis of majority but decisions have to be taken on the basis of consensus,” he said.
“There should be consensus, at least efforts should be made for consensus. And if these fail, then the issue of majority-minority would come in. In this House, we are not going to force any decision but make efforts for consensus… If nothing helps then the ultimate is majority-minority,” the Prime Minister said.
“For us, the Constitution assumes more importance. India is full of is so much of diversity and there are different aspirations and it is our responsibility to fulfil them,” he
Modi asserted that diversity is the strength of India and it needs to be nurtured.
“For the Government, the only ‘dharma’ is ‘India first, the only ‘dharma granth’ (holy book) is the Constitution,” the Prime Minister asserted in his 70-minute reply to the debate during which opposition members and questioned his “silence” over the issue.
However, Modi did not specifically refer to any recent incidents arising out of intolerance or nor did he touch on the debate that is raging in the country over it.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today utilised the debate in the Rajya Sabha to attack the Congress cited Hitler’s actions in Germany in 1930s for the imposition of Emergency in 1975 by “subverting” the Constitution. The “dictatorship was at its worst” then as even right to life and liberty was suspended, he said.
“The country will run by the Constitution and it should be run only by the Constitution. India has fundamentally grown on this ideology. The country has the internal energy amassed over thousands of years which gives it the stimulus and capacity to deal with crises,” Modi said.
Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, B R Ambedkar and Nehru repeatedly, he underlined that the ‘Idea of India’ is reflected by the aspects like ‘Ahinsa Parmo Dharma (non-violence is supreme duty), ‘Sarv Dharma Sambhav’ (equal respect to all religions) and ‘Vasudev Kutumbakam’ (entire world is a family).
“Our country has been there for thousands of years. Shortcomings do come. Even vices do crop up. But there is something that keeps us going. Even when vices come up, solutions also emerge from within the society….It is like an ‘auto pilot corrective arrangement and this is our strength,” the Prime Minister.
Asserting that the thrust of his government is on ‘sab ka sath’ (cooperation from all), he said, “no section of the society should lag behind. If any part of the body is paralysed, the body cannot be called healthy. We have to empower people from all sections, be it any community, region or language.”
Noting that India has 12 religions, 122 languages and 1600 dialects and comprises people who are believers in God as well as athiests, he said, “all should get justice. There should be harmony.”
Meanwhile, asserting that every terrorist, be it a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian, should face the gallows, Opposition Leader in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad warned the Government against being “selective” and sought action in Samjhauta and Malegaon blast cases.
He said the Government should refrain from going “slow” in some cases and going fast in others.
Azad was replying to a point on terrorism raised by the Leader of Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley during a debate on the Constitution in which the latter had said one should not be seen as soft on terror and the country should speak in one voice.
He said there would be no one in the House who would be against the hanging of those who had attacked the Parliament. “I will say, if someone is left behind, he should also be hanged,” he said.
Recalling his days as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress leader said he had strongly taken on terrorism from within and those coming from across the border and said he believed that anyone who comes and attacks people with a gun, his body should be sent back.
To this, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad thumped the bench along with others and said, “We appreciate you for this”.
Quickly grabbing the opportunity, Azad said, “I will appreciate when action is taken against the Samjhauta terrorists, Malegaon, Hyderabad” and others.
When Akali Dal MP Naresh Gujral made a comment in between, Azad hit back saying that the Punjab-based party leaders had attended the last rites of militants, while he had attended the last rites of the victims of militancy.
Another Akali leader raised the issue of the 1984 riots, to which Azad said law is taking its course.
Attacking the BJP for not acknowledging the contributions of leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru in making of the Constitution, Azad said this attitude reflected the ruling party’s intolerance which flows from the top to the streets.
He also accused the BJP of trying to appropriate the icons of India’s freedom struggle without having such a leader of its own and trying to “manufacture a clash” between these famous personalities.
“You can talk about German Constitution, its dictator … But you feel ashamed to talk about (Jawaharlal) Nehru. … You are not able to recognise the contribution of first Prime Minister …. This is called intolerance. It flows from the top and percolates down to the streets,” Azad said.
In a hard-hitting speech in the Rajya Sabha in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Azad accused the ruling dispensation of attempting to “manufacture a clash” between the personas of freedom struggle like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Sardar Patel and Nehru on the lines of the “divide and rule” policy.
Azad referred to Leader of the House Arun Jaitley’s speech and said it became clear to him that the discussion on Ambedkar and commitment towards the Constitution was actually a “shield to take aim at other targets.”
He said Jaitley had referred to Hitler and not acknowledged Nehru, which made it clear that “nazar kahin thi, nishana kahin tha”.
“Those who don’t have icons who took part in freedom struggle are trying to appropriate others,” he said, adding that Ambedkar, Bose, Nehru, Prasad, Maulana Azad cannot be appropriated and “will always belong to the people of the country”.
Taking a jibe at the RSS-BJP, he said there were a lot of people belonging to “a parivar” who did not agree with the Constitution and “it is good if they also show their commitment. Der aaye, durust aaye (better late than never)”.
As Azad questioned the procedures adhered to by the Government in celebrating the Constitution Day, Jaitley stood up and asked why was there a “grudging feeling” in acknowledging Ambedkar’s contribution.
Continuing his attack on the Modi Government, Azad said that a tree laden with fruit bends. “If it does not bend, then there is something wrong with its DNA,” Azad said.
He congratulated the writers and artistes who had “stood up against intolerance and injustice” and said that numerous “disturbing” incidents had taken place across several States in the last one and a half years.
Azad said several incidents had happened in States like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and UP due to the prevailing situation of intolerance. In one such case, the arm of a person was cut because he was dining with an upper caste youth, the Congress leader said, holding the ruling party responsible for it.
Azad said he was greatly inspired by Ambedkar and added that people who found inspiration in freedom fighters, who left their comfortable lives and spent years in jail, were always committed to Constitution.
He claimed that the Congress only “manufactured harmony” which was what leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Maulana Azad had taught.
In his speech, Azad also raised procedural questions related to declaring November 26 as Constitution Day, saying that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had come out with a notification on it, though the matter fell in the realm of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
This notification is “null and void”, he claimed and added that there were more improprieties like CBSE issuing an order to schools to celebrate this day, even before the notification had been issued.
Azad also emphasised that the Constitution aimed to bridge the divide between rich and poor adding that social justice was a priority. It was also envisaged that every person should have freedom to practice their religion and freedom of opportunity.
He also praised Ambedkar’s determination saying despite facing discrimination, he went on to acquire the best of education to become one of the leading visionaries of his time, adding that several problems that Governments are dealing with now, were envisaged by Ambedkar way back.
Earlier, initiating a discussion on the ‘Commitment to India’s Constitution’, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said measures should be taken to strengthen the Constitution and ensure that democracy is not subverted again.
Jaitley narrated the sequence of events that took place in Hitler’s regime, suggesting that these were replicated by Indira Gandhi who imposed Emergency in 1975.
“There are worst illustrations in history when Constitutional systems are used to subvert the Constitution… You have the most glaring example in the world when in 1933 in Germany Emergency was declared,” he said, while countering the attack on goverment over ‘intolerance’ issue.
He said Hitler, using the pretext of a threat to “set ablaze the German Parliament”, imposed Emergency, detained opposition to gain majority for amending the Constitution, censured the press and came out with a 25-point economic programme.
“You impose Emergency, detain opposition, amend the Constitution, impose censorship on newspapers and announce a 25-point economic programme.
“Thereafter, you brought a law that no action taken by government was justiciable in court and then Hitler’s immediate adviser Rudolf Hess in his speech ended by a sentence that ‘Adolf Hitler is Germany, Germany is Adolf Hitler’,” he said.
Though he said he was only referring to the events of 1933 in Germany, Jaitley was apparently citing similarities to actions during Indira Gandhi’s regime when it was said ‘Indira is India, India is Indira’.
“What happened in other parts of the world later, Germany never claimed a copyright,” he added.
“The biggest challenge we faced (during Emergency) was that Article 21 was suspended and citizens lost even the right to life and liberty. This was dictatorship at its worst,” Jaitley said.
When some member from the Opposition benches said comparisons should not be drawn, the Finance Minister retorted: “Of course, there is no comparison. The difference is between a mouse and a mole hill”.
He noted that after the Emergency period was over, the Constitution was amended to make Article 21 “permanently non-suspendable.. So, today we are far more safe.”
Jaitley, who also holds the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting, added, “We should block all systems by which Constitution or Constitutional systems could be used to subvert democracy…We must all be prepared to strengthen each of the institutions of democracy.”
Seeking to needle the opposition which has been targeting the Government over ‘intolerance’, he asked how the House would react if Ambedkar had made his 1949 speech today for implementing Article 44 (that calls for bringing in Uniform Civil code) and Article 48) that calls for prohibiting cow slaughter).
He stressed that there should be no state religion and theocracy should not be practised as enshrined in the Constitution.
In the present times, he said, the “biggest challenge” to any Constitutional system in the world is terrorism and there should be united fight against it instead of some adopting a “soft” approach for vote bank politics.
Calling for unitedly fighting terrorism, Jaitley said the entire country should speak in one voice and nobody should be “seen soft” on terrrorism.
“The biggest challenge to any Constitutional system in the world is terrorism. We have to fight that challenge together. Sometimes for vote bank politics, we hold ourselves back from criticising the way we should. This is the result of the last 65 years,” he said, in an apparent attack on Congress.
In this context, he referred to the 2001 attack on Parliament, Mumbai blasts of 1993 and serial blasts on local trains in Mumbai in 2006.
Jaitley also made a veiled reference to the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon who was hanged few months back and said “The manner in which he was passed off as a martyr …Somebody who virtually massacred Mumbai. How would have Dr Ambedkar reacted to this?”
Quoting Ambedkar’s famous speech delivered on November 25, 1949 while proposing the Constitution document, Jaitley the Constitution-maker had raised apprehensions on whether India will be able to maintain its independence.
“When countries are challenged, the country should speak in one voice. Therefore, those who seek to destroy sovereignities, countries cannot be seen to be ever supporting them…,” he said, citing historical events relating to Jai Chand and Gulab Singh.
At this some Congress members raised furore and asked Jailtey to specify what he meant.
To this, the Finance Minister said he was only referring to acts of terrorism. “I have no hesitation in saying that nobody in this country should ever be seen as soft on that kind of terrorism”.
On Judicary, Jaitley said the Constitution ensures its independence but stressed that at the same time Parliament too is part of basic structure of Constitution.
Noting that independence of judicary is absolutely essential, the lawyer-turned-politician said appointment of judges to high judiciary should be done through a consultative process.
“Today, the absolute contrary to what Dr Ambedkar had envisaged is happening,” Jaitley said, adding “today we have reached a position where CJI…Will appoint and everyone else is irrelevant. No position of law can ever justify it”.
He said activism by courts many a time has raised questions that it should not cross the “lakshman rekha” and the “delicate” balance between different organs prescribed in the Constitution should not be affected. No law can ensure to maintain this, Jaitley added.
A court cannot decide how many calories a terrorist has to be fed or how bullets could be fired in an encounter, he said.
Talking about repealing of the fundamental right to own and acquire property in 1970s, Jaitley urged members to ponder over whether one should be transient in thinking and be overswayed and tinker with the fundamental rights as the same issue had come back to haunt during the discussion on land bill.
“Sometimes short term vision in dealing with constitutionalism is not the right thing to do,” he added.
He also talked about the concept of federalism, saying after “misuse” of Article 356 several times during one party rule, the “fears of Article 356 being violated is being phased out now” due to the emergence of regional parties and coalition governments at Centre.
He, however pointed out that various challenges, like violence in conduct of free elections, have been tackled, but the “excessive use of money power is still a challenge to which we have to find a solution”. (PTI)
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