Members of Parliament (MPs) are using filthy language in the parliament thereby tarnishing the dignity and decorum of the parliament. Anybody can become a politician in our country. On the other hand, there is minimum qualification for becoming a clerk. Teachers have to follow ethics but why politicians don’t follow such directives? Private and Govt sector offer training to their employees but why there is no training or refresher course available for politicians? In India where election is based on caste, region, religion it’s impossible to avoid such aspects. All these factors are akin to energy drink for polarizing votes and divert the attention of media from core issues to hate speech.
According to me, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti had deliberately issued these comments after receiving directives from the senior leaders. Her utterances would stir the fascist cadre in to action. Their cadres don’t need food, clothing or clean governance. Talk of this type would generate euphoria in RSS and cheer them up. Modi won’t sack Sadhvi as in future other ministers would refrain from issuing such statements and Hindutva agenda will suffer. Moreover, this is not the first instance when a minister or a politician is making such reckless remarks.
A party while in opposition demands resignation but once in power does not ask the offender to resign. Similarly those demanding resignation never acted so while in power. Thus political parties are following double standards. Prime Minister should set a precedent by sacking the minister. He should advise all his party workers to exercise some restraint and fully respect democratic process. Let us not criticize the media for performing its duty.
Hate speech is the backbone of the religion/caste based politics and it’s very easy to hurt anyone’s sentiments and please one’s party members for vote bank politics. If politicians violate the rule or degrade the dignity and decorum of the parliament and try to polarize vote by delivering hate speech then a ban must be imposed on them from contesting election for two terms. Minimum qualification for becoming a MLA should be graduation degree and post-graduation for MP. However, political parties distribute tickets on religious grounds.
After MP’s take oath in the parliament they should follow ethics and undergo a speech therapy course otherwise they are likely to destroy our democratic culture and history. Communalism should not be acceptable in any form. Narendra Modi has done right thing by denouncing the unacceptable language used by his minister. It would have been better to sack the minister from the cabinet, as she apologized but without feeling any guilt.
The PM should set this tone right, as already there is suspicion about RSS meddling in the government’s functioning. So a responsible minister can call people of other religions “illegitimate children” and offer an apology – and we must “move on”. There should be zero tolerance towards hate speech in the parliament. It is high time we as Indian take a high moral ground – any behaviour unbecoming of the elected representatives will forthwith lose their right to be the representative. If BJP wants to differentiate itself from previous regime they should seize the opportunity and demonstrate. In this case, they should go out of way and ask the concerned minister to resign to uphold the principles of governance.
Naiyar Imam Siddiqui
