Shri Anand Sharma said that due to the circumstances that have arisen in the last 7 weeks, an atmosphere of fear and violence looms large all over the country. As far as we can remember, this is perhaps the first time after independence that for a long time, thousands and thousands of people have been expressing their anger, have been trying to make their voice heard by the government, are persecuted by the government and the administration. They do not have the right to express themselves.

In a democracy and according to our constitution, every citizen has the right to protest and to express himself/herself. It is the responsibility of the government to listen to their voices. The constitutional rights of the citizens of India should be respected and the entire opposition also has an obligation to protect those rights and to ensure that whatever is happening in the country at present, does not happen again. We have demanded that it be discussed and the accountability of the government should be fixed. There are apprehensions in the minds of people, towards NPR, NRC which are not unfounded, because they have been validated by the government, the Home Minister and the ministers of the government. How many people in the country have the information that will be sought and has already been sought? How many people in India have a PAN card, or a passport, or a driving license?

At present, there is a huge revenue deficit. 11-12 lakh crore rupees have been collected in the first 9 months, including the direct-indirect taxes. A budget of 26 lakh crore rupees has been presented. You can guess yourself whether these 15 lakh crores will be collected in 3 months or not. We will bring out this point that Budget be discussed. Our notice was on another matter today and we say that if the rules allow it, the Rajya Sabha notices under Rule 267 should be accepted. There exists violence in all the three: the ideology, the mentality and the voice of the party that rules today. Violence is not just what is physical, the kind of language which the government ministers use, is unconstitutional.

The country is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Many announcements are made in his name. Mahatma Gandhi’s statement was wrongly cited in the President’s address to justify BJP’s wrong doing and its verdict. It is important to understand Gandhiji’s vision, his thoughts and his humanity.

We demand that the Prime Minister clarify this situation in the Parliament. It is not acceptable that BJP leaders say such a thing. These successors belong to that thinking, that ideology, that organization, which opposed Gandhiji, opposed the national movement, opposed the Quit India movement. The Congress Party, which they denigrate, was banned, when the Quit India Movement started for 3 years, the entire Congress leadership was imprisoned, no one was acquitted for 3 years. The Congress was declared unlawful. What these two parties did together at that time is a very sad part of history. Monday, 3rd February, 2020