“Our words and actions should not diminish the image of the country in the world fora,” Rijiju said in the Lok Sabha. He was the maiden speaker on the second day of the ongoing debate in the Lower House of Parliament.
In an apparent jibe at the Opposition, Rijiju said that some claim that minorities have no rights in India even when the country has given equal voting rights to all.
In his more than an hour-long speech, Rijiju suggested the Congress party to ‘apologise’ to BR Ambedkar to “lessen its sins”. He further claimed that ‘you’ (apparently referring to the Congress) made Ambedkar lose during the 1952 parliamentary polls.
He also raised questions over the delay in bestowing the Bharat Ratna — the highest civilian honour in the country — over Ambedkar. He asserted that Ambedkar was conferred with Bharat Ratna only after a government supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power at the Centre.
In his speech, Rijiju also cited Ambedkar as saying that India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru delivered over 2,000 speeches in 20 years, he never spoke about the welfare of Scheduled Castes ‘even once’.
“Pandit Nehru is always for Muslims,” Rijiju said, quoting Ambedkar.
The minister also cited a survey to highlight how minorities, including Muslims, faced discrimination and hate crimes across several countries. He added that the situation in neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh as well as Afghanistan wherein those belonging to minority communities are facing persecution is ‘well-known’.
‘We follow Constitution; BJP’s book is Manusmriti’
Taking part in the debate, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi started his speech by “quoting what the Supreme Leader, not of the BJP but of the modern interpretation of the ideas of the RSS has to say about the Constitution of India and about how he thinks India should be run.”
“The worst thing about the Constitution of India is that there is nothing Indian about it. Manusmriti is that scripture which is most worshippable after Vedas for our Hindu nation and from which our ancient times have become the basis for our culture, customs, thought and practice. This book, for centuries, has codified the spiritual and divine march of our nation. Today, Manusmiriti is law,” Gandhi said, noting that these were the words of Savarkar.
He then added, “I want to ask you, do you stand by your leader’s words? Do you support your leader’s words? Because when you speak in Parliament about protecting the Constitution, you are ridiculing Savarkar, you are abusing Savarkar, you are defaming Savarkar.”
‘Bad elements’ uproar
DMK MP A Raja, taking part in the debate, called the BJP MPs ‘bad elements’. This sparked a massive uproar in Parliament as several of the ruling party members objected to Raja’s statement.
“BR Ambedkar did not ever dream that bad elements like this would come to Power,” Raja said while pointing to the treasury benches.
The DMK MP further claimed in the Lok Sabha that it was not Muhammad Ali Jinnah but Veer Savarkar, who had invented the two-nation theory in 1924 and this led to the partition of the country in 1947.
Quota system in the private sector
Independent MP Pappu Yadav, while speaking on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha, urged the central government to introduce the reservation system in the private sector.
‘Soros Army’
Taking a veiled dig at the Congress party, BJP’s Tejasvi Surya raised the issue surrounding links between businessman George Soros and Congress leaders in Lok Sabha.
“The Soros army is Destabilising the country with their hidden agenda,” he claimed.
On Friday (December 13), the first day of the debate witnessed several heated exchanges between the ruling NDA and the Opposition INDIA bloc.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh initiated the debate, while Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and TMC leader Mahua Moitra spoke on behalf of the Opposition.
According to reports, the special debate session is expected to culminate with a reply by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.
