- By Kamal Kumar
- Mon, 16 Dec 2024 03:07 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
As the Constitution Day debate opened in Rajya Sabha on Monday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge mounted a charge against the ruling party, accusing it of undermining the Constitution and asserting that PM Modi should 'apologise' to the people of the country for misleading them by 'twisting' Jawaharlal Nehru's letter to states.
Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, also lambasted Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for her remarks during the debate.
"They studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University but I do not know what they studied because the students who studied there are so progressive and they have a big hand in building the country whether it is in Economics, Political Science or History but here the talk is about eliminating the democratic things," Kharge said criticising Sitharaman who earlier led BJP's charge against the historical mistakes by Congress party.
Criticising Constitutional amendments by successive Congress governments, Sitharaman underlined how the grand old party manipulated the lawbooks for its benefit.
"Supreme Court’s 1950 ruling in favour of the Communist magazine "Cross Roads" and the RSS magazine "Organizer" led the interim government to introduce this amendment. She noted that the amendment, brought by the Indian National Congress (INC), aimed to restrict freedom of speech, marking a significant move against the democratic values of freedom of expression within just one year of adopting India’s Constitution," she said.
Highlighting how Congress imposed censorship on free speech in the country, Fin Min further said: "Majrooh Sultanpuri and Balraj Sahni were jailed in 1949. Sultanpuri was imprisoned after reciting a poem against Jawaharlal Nehru at a mill workers' meeting, refusing to apologise. Congress’s history of suppressing free speech extends beyond them, including the 1975 ban on Michael Edwards' political biography of Nehru and the film Kissa Kursi Ka for questioning Indira Gandhi and her son."
"The Congress party repeatedly amended the Constitution to benefit the family and dynasty. These amendments were not aimed at strengthening democracy, but at protecting those in power and reinforcing the family," she added.
Responding to the charge against the Congress party, Kharge emphasised the contributions of its leaders in the past.
"Our brave leader Indira Gandhi divided Pakistan into two parts and liberated Bangladesh, bringing pride to the country worldwide. The current chaos in Bangladesh should open the eyes of these (BJP) people, and they should work to protect the minorities there."
"When many powerful countries did not have universal adult franchises and women did not have the right to vote, India granted a universal adult franchise and voting rights to women. This was done by the Congress through the Constitution, while RSS and Jansangh opposed it," he added.
Hitting at RSS, the ideological mentor of BJP, Kharge alleged that the organisation was against the Constitution because it was not based on the Manusmriti.
"..In 1949, RSS leaders opposed the Constitution of India because it was not based on Manusmriti... Neither did they accept the Constitution nor the tricolour. On 26 January 2002, for the first time, the tricolour was hoisted at the RSS headquarters under compulsion. Because there was a court order," he said.
