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| Privilege motion against Kher, Unstinted support to NC | | Indian Constitution | | Rustam
JAMMU, Apr 11: The Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) coalition government in Maharashtra has admitted a privilege motion against noted actor and activist Anupam Kher. His fault: He allegedly made an anti-Indian Constitution statement during a debate on the IBN 7 on the Jan Lokpal Bill and the attitude of the Union Government towards the Bill. Some members of the Maharashtra Assembly described his alleged comments on the Indian Constitution as a "war against the state." NCP MLA Jitendra Avhad moved the privilege motion in the Maharashtra Assembly on April 9 and it got support from many. Speaker of the Assembly Dilip Walse-Patil admitted the motion and referred the same to the privilege committee.
Did Kher really say anything against the Indian Constitution? He didn't. This scribe had watched the debate and found nothing whatever that could be construed as something derogatory against the Indian statute book. What he had said was that things in the country had undergone major changes and that if the situation so warranted the constitution could be changed. He did not say anything wrong. In fact, responding to the criticism and the Maharashtra Assembly's extreme action, Kher tweeted: "I haven't made this statement. I know my constitutional rights and duties."
Kher is an Indian citizen. He has the right to speech and air views on what the country's needs and what people want. He didn't cross the line when he expressed himself in favour of making changes in the constitution. If the Government of India could amend the constitution for nearly 105 times after January 26, 1950, why can't Kher suggest more changes/amendments in the constitution taking into account the needs of the people and exigencies of the time? He has every right. There should be no doubt about it. It would not be out of place to mention here that the country's ruling elite has amended the Indian Constitution umpteen times to suit their needs.
It is indeed a sad day, nay an evil day, for the Indian democracy that privilege motions are being adopted against well-meaning and responsible citizens and those like Kher who take up the people's cause as well as the cause of the country in right earnest. Even more mind-boggling perhaps is the liberty that is being enjoyed by certain men-in-power, liberty to the point where it becomes indistinguishable from revolt against the Indian Constitution. The case in point is the freedom with which the ruling National Conference, which is sharing power with the Congress, is demanding a dispensation outside the constitutional and political framework of India on the ground that the application of certain provisions of the Indian Constitution has alienated the Muslims of Kashmir. Earlier, the National Conference had misused its brutal majority in the Assembly and adopted a resolution demanding autonomy for the state, bordering on virtual sovereignty. It is, however, a different story that then BJP-led NDA Government threw the autonomy committee report in the dustbin.
Is it not a contradiction of sorts that the Congress-led government in Maharashtra has adopted a privilege motion against Kher for the crime he has not committed? It is a contradiction of sorts when viewed in the light of the fact that the same Congress party is giving unstinted support to the National Conference and defending on a daily basis of all its controversial actions, including its persistent demand seeking the segregation of the state from the constitutional organization of India.
The Congress is indeed playing a double role. In Maharashtra, it is punishing those religiously committed to India and the Indian political system and in Jammu and Kashmir, it is sharing power with those rabidly opposed to any kind of truck with the Indian constitutional framework. That's the reason the Congress is becoming unpopular with each passing day. The Congress needs to abandon the path it has been treading for quite sometime now. The sooner it does so and reform itself taking into consideration the needs of the people, the national sentiment and the exigencies of the time the better for it and for the country as a whole. |
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