On diamond jubilee, Parliament shows decorum

The special session to mark the 60th anniversary of the Lok Sabha on Sunday averted being a vapid affair of vacuous speeches. There was a glint of fire and gratitude and pride in all speeches.

Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar set the tone for the day when she invoked people’s faith and commitment to democracy. She talked about Bharatiya janata ki nishtha (the Indian people’s commitment) and anjaan Bharatiyon kis aastha (the faith of anonymous Indians) as the reason behind the resounding success of the parliamentary democracy. She said the Indian democracy faces a challenge that it has to choose between the age-old caste system and democracy which rests on the principle of equality. The two cannot exist together, and one or the other has to go.

Finance minister and leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee asserted once again the supremacy of parliament, and argued that the 24th amendment, which declared that Parliament has a right to make any law and amend any part of the Constitution, as the most important landmark. He recalled that when Indira Gandhi found the Supreme Court striking down social legislation like nationalisation of banks, abolition of privy purses, she went to the people and sought a two-thirds majority to bring in an amendment to the Constitution which would empower parliament to bring in social legislation. 

BJP leader LK Advani invoked Mahatma Gandhi and said that greater than the achievement of India turning a nuclear power and poised to become a global power it was that of India remaining a democracy. He quoted Charvaka, the ancient Indian materialist philosopher, who mocked at gods and preached the credo of “drink and make merry” but was tolerated and even revered as a sage and that he was not brought before the inquisition for his extreme views. He pleaded for  tolerance towards extreme views.

Leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj said the composition of the House reflected the social change in the country. In the earlier years, it was individuals from well-to-do backgrounds who were predominant whereas today 40% of the House comprised individuals from backward and oppressed sections.

Swaraj regretted that there was no significant change in the representation of women, and she hoped that the present Lok Sabha would pass the women’s reservation bill.

Interestingly, while her mentor Advani had quoted a Sanskrit verse from Charvaka, she cited a verse from the Mahabharata where Yudhishtir says that while fighting among themselves the division was between five Pandavas and the 100 Kauravas, in the face of outside threat it meant that it was force 105. She was underlining the point that when the country faced a security threat the House stood united.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh said public disenchantment is bound to raise if parties fail to collectively resolve to restore the prestige of the institution.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi spoke for the first time since Congress-led UPA came to power in 2004. She said the core principles of secularism and social justice and quoted Jawaharlal Nehru’s “swaraj for all” as the goad to future endeavours.

The session ended with the House adopting a resolution unanimously, expressing determination to work for the betterment of the people.