Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday warned that street protests and arson against decisions of Parliament and state assemblies and people’s refusal to accept laws will lead to anarchy, as he accused the Congress and other opposition parties of inciting protests against the CAA and the NPR.
Stoutly defending the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the updation of the National Population Register (NPR), Modi told Parliament there is an attempt to cover undemocratic activity under the garb of protests and that no one is going to get political benefit.
The prime minister accused the Opposition of using all its might to stoke “imaginary” fears about the CAA and the NPR which is worrisome and dangerous for the country.
“Don’t try to mislead people”, Modi asserted, as he likened the Opposition’s stand on the CAA to that of Pakistan, saying Islamabad spoke the same language for decades to mislead and incite Indian Muslims.
Modi tore into the Opposition in marathon combative speeches in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and said those rejected by people in elections are fuelling protests against the CAA and the NPR for their “vote bank politics”.
The fresh attack against the Opposition came two days ahead of the Assembly polls in Delhi which has witnessed protests in Shaheen Bagh, Jamia Millia and other areas.
Maintaining that the CAA does not affect any Indian citizen and poses no harm to minorities and that opposing NPR for political reasons will deprive the poor of benefits of welfare schemes, the prime minister said instead of scaring people right information needs to be provided and that there should be proper discussions. Questions asked in the NPR are purely governance related, he stressed.
The prime minister said Census and the NPR are “usual administrative” processes which have been carried out previously as well but have now suddenly become contentious.
Modi was replying to the debate in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address. The Motion was later adopted by the two Houses.
The prime minister delivered a stinging rebuttal to the Opposition over most issues its members raised to criticise his government and took on the charge that he pursued communal politics and wanted Hindu Rashtra.
He cited comments of Jawaharlal Nehru to back the law and said the Congress stalwart wanted citizenship for minorities from Pakistan.
Modi said Nehru had wanted to defend minorities in then West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
“Was he communal, did he want to create a Hindu Rashtra…I want to ask the Congress,” the prime minister said.
Modi also touched on the issues of Kashmir, economy, unemployment and farmers distress while taking frequent digs at rivals, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi whom he dubbed a “tubelight”.
Describing Jammu and Kashmir as the “crown jewel of India”, he said the identity of Kashmir was buried when the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits began in 1990.
Amid thumping of benches by ruling BJP members and their allies, the prime minister invoked the Constitution to warn against street protests to oppose decisions taken by Parliament and state assemblies.
The Congress was expected to be a responsible Opposition, but it had taken a wrong turn, he said.
Noting that the CAA was passed by Parliament and duly notified, he told opposition parties that the road taken by them raises worries, a reference to anti-CAA protests and support to them by many anti-BJP parties.
“What will happen if people refuse to accept a decision taken by the Rajasthan assembly, stage dharnas and resort to arson?’ Modi asked and gave a similar example of Madhya Pradesh. The Congress is in power in the two states.
“What will then happen? Can the country run this way? This is road to anarchy… Such a way can put you (Opposition) in trouble as well. I am giving this warning as we all should be concerned about the country.”
“It is due to your work that people have sent you there,” he said, referring to the opposition benches. “Everybody has a right to put across their point of views but no good will come out of spreading lies and rumours. Respect the Constitution,” he added.
People associated with the Congress and the Left have been inciting people, he said.
Dwelling at length on the NPR in the Rajya Sabha, Modi said it was being updated to allow the rightful beneficiaries get the benefit of government welfare schemes. The NPR was first done in 2010 and later updated in 2015, he added.
He said census and the NPR are “usual administrative” processes which have been carried out previously as well but have now suddenly become contentious.
Questions asked in the NPR are purely governance related, he said, citing the example of asking citizens of the language spoken by them and their parents are deeply linked to the schools that need to be set up in that particular area.
“They are opposing (NPR) for narrow and frivolous political narrative. This is anti-poor,” he said, adding his government had made productive use of the data collected by previous NPR to give benefits of the schemes to the poor. He asked opposition parties to not politicise the issue for narrow political gains.
“We have record of your NPR, no citizen was persecuted based on that record of NPR,” he said, citing the statement of the home minister of the Congress-led UPA government appealing to citizens to enrol in the exercise.
Hitting back at the Congress over its charge that his government violated the Constitution, Modi said it should be the party’s mantra to speak 100 times a day about “saving Constitution” so that it remembers its sanctity.
Modi said India can no longer wait for problems to remain unsolved, and, rightfully so.
“That is why, our aim is speed and scale, determination and decisiveness, sensitivity and solutions”.
“The people of India have not only changed the Sarkar (government). They want the ‘Sarokar’ (conduct) to be changed as well. If we had worked according to the old ways and thought processes: Article 370 would never have been history. Muslim women would have kept suffering due to triple talaq,” he said.
The prime minister said if his government worked as per the old ways, the Ram Janmabhoomi issue would have remained unsolved, Kartarpur Sahib corridor would not be a reality and there would be no India-Bangladesh land agreement.
