'Ministers can't produce degrees, dispossessed people expected to show papers': TMC's Mahua Moitra in debut LS speech

Moitra, a legislator from the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal, attacked the ruling party's ideology based on "superficial, xenophobic, and narrow hyper-nationalism".

To this extent, she used the example of anti-immigration laws like the National Register of Citizens (NRC) policy, which according to her were being advocated by the Modi government to target a specific community.

"People who have lived in this country for 50 years are having to show a piece of paper to show that they are Indians," the MP from Bengal said. In a scathing jibe highlighting the supposed irony of the country's situation, she asked rhetorically, "In a country where ministers cannot produce degrees to prove that they graduated from college, you expect dispossessed people to show papers, to show that they belong to this country?"

Referring to reports of increased hate crimes in the country under the ruling party in the last five years, Moitra compared the rise to "the valuation of an e-commerce start-up", alleging forces in the country working actively to push the number of these crimes upwards.

She also talked about the incident of lynching of Pehlu Khan in Rajasthan and more recently, Tabrez Ansari.

"The list is not stopping," the Bengal MP said.

Moitra went on to further accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indirectly controlling "five of the largest news media organisations" in the country. She also accused TV news channels to have turned into "broadcasters of propaganda" for the ruling party.

Going deeper into the issue, she elaborated into the effect 'fake news' has on people's minds as to how such news, as a form of discursive media, played in the recent polls.

She said that the elections were not fought on burning issues like employment and farmers' demands, but on some "lies" circulated on WhatsApp.

In a critical attack against the saffron party, Moitra called the doctrine dictating the BJP's campaign as the "Goebbels Doctrine" (referring to the propaganda doctrine charted by German politician Joseph Goebbels for the Nazi party in Germany).   

Twitter burst into praises for the passionate statement that the TMC MP delivered in the Lok Sabha, even with ideological differences across the political spectrum.
 

While some were in praises of her cultural sensibilities when she quoted several individuals like Maulana Azad and Rahat Indori throughout her speech, others were left complimenting the legislator's vigour even under stress and "professional heckling" in the Parliament.

Remarkable speech by Mahua Maitra @trinamul responding to President's Speech, Brings up Maulana Azad and defends the Constitution. https://t.co/3yWNtKhB2e

— Rohit (@itihaasnaama) June 25, 2019

Terrific, fiery, no-quarter-given speech by Mahua Maitra.

Ends with these lines by Raahat Indori:

सभी का ख़ून है शामिल यहाँ की मिट्टी में
किसी के बाप का हिन्दोस्तान थोड़ी है https://t.co/Y1nAm0YUP1

— Amrita (@damrita) June 25, 2019

Amazing Maiden Parliamentary speech by investment banker turned politician Mahua Moitra of TMC, on the rise of fascism in India. Under so much pressure, heckling, abusehttps://t.co/DjAa0vihn9 Why is the ruling majority so insecure, so terrified by a lone female opposition voice?

— PKR | প্রশান্ত | پرشانتو (@prasanto) June 25, 2019

Quotes extracted from parts of her speech were circulated and retweeted all over the social media platform a number of times.

“In a country where a union minister can’t produce her college degree, people are being declared non citizens for not being able to produce pieces of paper from 50 years ago.”
Rousing maiden speech in parliament by Mahua Moitra. https://t.co/iZhQFygGEd

— Mythili (@MVijay88) June 25, 2019

If you watch one Lok Sabha speech today, watch this. What a remarkable speech by Mahua Moitra, quoting facts, figures and poetry. "Kisi ke baap ka hindostan thodi hai"https://t.co/vJB8qJSg5G

— Sunanda (@YoursLegallyy) June 25, 2019

Fellow party member Derek O'Brien also expressed admiration for Moitra's "sizzling maiden speech" at the Parliament.

So proud of my colleague, Mahua Moitra, from Trinamool. Despite professional heckling from BJP MPs, she delivered a sizzling maiden speech. #Parliament #SansadWatch https://t.co/0SnboRPyYT

— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও’ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) June 25, 2019