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T V R Shenoy

The Congress didn't have the manhood to destroy the DMK in open debate

We won't permit Parliament to function. If MPs ignore this warning, we shall force them to obey our dictates!" What do you think the general reaction would be if, say, the LTTE or the ULFA issued some such threat?

Outrage? Anger? A gritty determination to show the world that the highest forum of democracy doesn't knuckle under terrorism?

Right, but what happens if the man threatening to bring Parliament to a screeching (no pun intended!) halt is the the Congress Parliamentary Party secretary? And, worse, what happens if he and his colleagues actually succeed?

"Slogan shouting, demonstrations, and continued disruptions of the business of the House," said a grim Purno Sangma, "is a sad breach of the resolution of the Golden Jubilee session, as far as it concerns commitment in respect of orderly conduct of business.”

'‘It is also a mindless mockery of the people who have returned this House,’' the Lok Sabha speaker continued, "and an appalling denigration of the very institution of Parliament which I shall not permit. I have therefore decided to adjourn the House sine die.”

It has been a very long time since the Lok Sabha had a Speaker who is as fair and as dedicated to parliamentary principles as Sangma. Unfortunately, he is forced to preside over some of the most irresponsible MPs ever.

The Speaker mentioned both the treasury and Congress benches as reasons for his adjourning the House. And it is certainly true that the DMK MPs proved they could yell just as much and just as loudly as their supporters from outside.

But let us be fair. It was the Congress that came to Parliament with a gameplan to disrupt the functioning of both Houses. It was the Congress that bellowed away for three days. It was the Congress that has blocked the normal passage of legislation.

I am not trying to justify the actions of the DMK MPs. But if 140 fanatics scream at you for days on end, if they insist on dubbing you a party of murders, well, even your temper will snap under the pressure. Let us not forget that the Congress MPs began their disruptive practices on November 20. It wasn't until November 25 that the DMK men chose to give as good as they got.

But a momentary lapse of control can be forgiven. What is not pardonable is a premeditated plan to systematically dismantle every canon of parliamentary procedures. And that is what the Congress did in the winter session.

What, at the end of the day, was the Congress demanding? The party wanted the heads of the DMK ministers. But it would not – or could not – give coherent reasons why this should happen.

Once the Jain Commission’s interim report was tabled, the Congress had every right to demand a discussion. Instead, they refused a debate, asking for outright satisfaction.

Action without a debate, action without due reflection, action taken without offering reasons – these, we all know, have been the hallmarks of the Congress since Indira Gandhi’s day. Yet if the Congress wants to commit suicide through its own recklessness, that is its own business.

But what we saw in Parliament between November 20 and 25 was something worse than a party rushing to destroy itself. It was attempted murder.

True to form, the Congress didn't have the manhood to destroy the DMK in open debate. What it was demanding was that the United Front should stab M Karunanidhi in the back. (Of course, that wasn't so farfetched a demand given the presence of people like Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Mulayam Singh Yadav!)

It has been calculated that keeping the Lok Sabha functioning costs the taxpayers of India Rs 7,000 per minute. Thanks to the Congress, three full days were lost to the Lok Sabha until the speaker put an end to the farce. In effect, the citizens of India were paying Congress MPs to enact a farce!

The Congress used to boast of being the party that brought democracy to India. I always had my doubts about so far-flung a claim. But now there is no doubt whatsoever about another achievement by the Congress – it has, almost singlehandedly, hacked away at the very roots of the parliamentary system.

If a terrorist had organised a bomb-attack on Parliament, we would have spared no efforts to hunt him down. Should we be more forgiving of the Congress party just because it used other weapons to disrupt Parliament?

T V R Shenoy