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| New high in belittling democratic institutions | | Taj-Malhotra row | | early times report
Jammu, Nov 16: The way democratic institutions are being ridiculed by those owing loyalty and allegiance to the state's constitution makes it clear that those drawing their authority and power from these very institutions are out to belittle them.
In an unprecedented move the state PHE and Irrigation Minister Chowdhary Taj Mohi-udDin recently ridiculed the legislative council chairman Amrit Malhotra. The minister even went to the extent of saying that it was a situation where a monkey held a razor in his hand. This type of vilification and maligning has been witnessed for the first time in the state where respect of democratic institutions has been taking a nosedive for the last some years.
In protocol, the chairman of the legislative council is ranked high. In the book of precedence also the status of the LC chairman is well defined. Besides powers as the head of the house of elders in the state, the LC chairman has inherent constitutional powers. If a sitting minister decides to belittle the status of the LC chairman then it is quite evident that something is grossly wrong somewhere. The minister has also said he would be taking up the issue of the LC chairman's removal from the high office with the party high command.
It is a well known fact of the constitution that after being sworn in as the chairman of the legislative council the person holding the high office belongs to no political party. Accusing the LC chairman for acting in a malafide manner is an accusation which needs to be immediately proved or withdrawn with apology and regret.
The second most tragic thing about the development has been the way the LC chairman has been taking all the insinuations and accusations. Holding such a high office has inherent responsibilities which the person holding the office must not ignore at any cost. What action has Amrit Malhotra taken to defend the stature of the high office he has been holding? Does decision to take the accusations lying down indicate he has nothing to say in his defence? In a nutshell, the drama of accusations, counter accusations has already reached a new high in the state where now even democratic institutions are not spared while settling personal scores. |
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