Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Speaker Om Birla saying that he was “shocked” to note how a considerable portion of his speech in the House was expunged and said that taking off his remarks was against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy.
“…Shocked to note the manner in which considerable portion of my speech have been simply taken off from the proceedings under the garb of expunction…Taking off from records my considered remarks goes against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy…,” read the letter.
Requesting the chair to restore his remarks, he said the portions expunged from records did not come under the purview of exisiting rules.
“While the Chair derives powers to expunge the certain remarks from the proceedings of the House but the stipulation is only those kind of words, the nature of which have been specified in Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha,” he wrote.
In his first speech as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi had launched a no-holds-barred attack on the BJP, accusing the leaders of the ruling party of dividing people on communal lines.
Gandhi’s remarks drew massive protests from the treasury benches and a rare intervention from the prime minister, who slammed the Congress leader for calling the entire Hindu community violent.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament complex, a defiant Gandhi said truth can be expunged in the world of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but not in reality.
“In Modi ji’s world, truth can be expunged. But in reality, the truth can’t be expunged. I said what I had to say, that is the truth. They can expunge as much as they want. Truth is truth,” said Gandhi.
Reacting to action taken by Speaker against Rahul Gandhi, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said that Rahul Gandhi was giving a lot of fake information in Parliament and it was a part of the procedure to expunge from records the lies told on the floor of House.
“Parliament is not a place to spread fake information or mislead the public. Rahul Gandhi had a lot of fake information in the Parliament yesterday. At the time, concerning ministers exposed his lies. It is a part of the procedure to expunge from records the lies told on the floor of House,” said Tiwari.
Gandhi’s speech that lasted for about an hour and 40 minutes was intervened twice by PM Modi and at least five cabinet ministers interjected during the speech, with Home Minister Amit Shah demanding an apology from him.
“It is not just one religion that talks about courage. In fact, all our religions talk about courage,” Gandhi said.
The Congress leader was speaking during the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the president’s address to a joint sitting of Parliament.
Gandhi quoted Prophet Muhammad to highlight that the Quran talks about fearlessness.
Holding up pictures of Lord Shiva, Guru Nanak, and Jesus Christ, he referred to Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism and Jainism to underline the importance of fearlessness. He also cited the attributes of Lord Shiva and teachings of Guru Nanak, Jesus Christ, Buddha, and Mahavir to state that all religions and great people of the country have said “daro mat, darao mat (do not be scared, do not scare others)”.
“Shivji says daro mat, darao mat … talks about ahimsa…,” he said.
As the treasury bench members stood up in protest, Gandhi slammed the BJP, saying, “Aap Hindu ho hi nahi (You are not Hindus). It is clearly written in Hinduism that one should stand with the truth and not back down from the truth or be scared of it,” he said.
Modi, intervening into his speech, said, “This issue is very serious. Calling the entire Hindu community violent is a serious issue.”
Shah sought the Congress leader’s apology to the House and the country for hurting the feelings of crores of people who take pride in identifying themselves as Hindus.
He said the ruckus created by the opposition cannot drown the fact that Gandhi had made certain remarks in the House.
With inputs from agencies
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