Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 17: Taking the cue from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a scathing attack on the Congress in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday and said the Grand Old Party did nothing during its tenure in power except eulogizing Nehru-Gandhi family considering the India Constitution as its ‘private territory.’
Replying to the debate in the Rajya Sabha on the 75 year celebrations of the Indian Constitution, Mr Shah argued that if the Congress could change the constitution 77 times and even introduce a clause that curtails freedom of expression, they cannot object to the One Nation One Election Bill on the ground that it would require constitutional amendment.
Mr Shah picked up the thread from the attack Mr Modi had launched on the Congress in the Lok Sabha on Saturday. Mr Shah said the Congress considered the Constitution as a “private fiefdom (territory)” of one family and “played fraud” with the Parliament. He also said the Congress lost the elections because people found out that they were carrying fake copies of the Constitution.
Stating that India’s Constitution was adopted following a democratic process, after taking feedback from the people, and no one has distorted it the way the Congress has, Mr Shah mentioning Article 19A questioned why it was brought in. “To curtail the freedom of expression,” he added amid loud protest from Congress members.
The debate on the Constitution in Parliament has been an educational one for future generations and the people of the country. It has revealed which party honoured the Constitution and which party did not, Mr Shah said. “One member mentioned that the level of discussion in the Parliament has gone down as we are discussing images (in the Constitution). These images denote our journey. Those who see everything through a Western lens can’t see the ‘Indianness’ of our Constitution,” he said hitting out at the opposition.
Mr Shah said the Modi government have adopted good things from others, but have never compromised on our traditions. “Change is the truth and mantra of life. This is something that the makers of the Constitution also realised and built in provisions for,” he said.
Mr Shah also questioned that since equality was at the heart of our Constitution. Why wasn’t a Uniform Civil Code Introduced? He himself answered the question, it was because the first Prime Minister brought in Muslim personal law. He said the BJP governments would bring in Uniform Civil Code in every state.
“We brought in 3 criminal justice laws. PM Narendra Modi Indianised the criminal justice system by bringing in these laws. If anyone worked to free the country from a mindset of slavery, it is PM Modi,” he said.
Claiming that the Congress words did not match with its actions, Mr Shah said “In 1995, the Kaka Saheb Kalelkar Commission was formed to provide reservation to OBCs. Where is its report? It was forgotten because OBCs would have received reservation.” He said any report that comes has to appear before the Cabinet, but instead of bringing them to the Parliament, the Congress kept the reports in the archives. “If the Kaka Saheb Kalelkar report had been accepted, the Mandal Commission report of 1980 would not have been necessary,” he said.
Amit Shah noted how the Modi government abrogated Article 370 from the Constitution, a provision which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Shah said Opposition leaders used to say that rivers of blood would be flowing in Jammu and Kashmir but under the Modi regime, not even a stone can be pelted in the region and neither does anybody dare to do so.
Hitting out at the Congress’ “recent habit of chanting BR Ambedkar’s name”, Amit Shah said these people who keep taking his name over the Constitution, their leader, former PM Jawaharlal Nehru had said “Ambedkar’s exit won’t hurt the Cabinet.” Ambedkar had resigned from the Cabinet in 1951 after his draft of the Hindu Code bill was stalled by Parliament.
Earlier in the day, the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha and union health minister JP Nadda said even a good constitution can prove to be bad if those implementing it were not good. Nadda attacked the Congress over the Emergency, amendment to the Preamble of the Constitution and also raised the Article 370 issue. He said the nation was indebted to the members of the Constituent Assembly who shaped the Constitution.