New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI) Amid a row over Rahul Gandhi seeking to quote from an unpublished “memoir” of former Army chief M M Naravane in the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday alleged that the government’s “overreaction” has paralysed the House and asked why it is afraid of a discussion.
A row erupted in the Lok Sabha on Monday when Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi sought to quote from the “memoir” of former Army chief M M Naravane on the 2020 India-China conflict, but faced strong opposition from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other BJP members who accused the Congress leader of misleading the House.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla disallowed Gandhi from raising the issue, but he did not relent, and several opposition leaders also rallied behind him. The House was adjourned twice and later for the day amid uproar as heated exchanges took place between the treasury and opposition benches.
Asked about the row, Tharoor said, “I think there was an overreaction from the government side because as far as I understood, what Rahul ji wished to raise was a matter that is already in the public domain. He was basing himself on a published article in the Caravan magazine, which quotes a memoir by General Naravane that is still unpublished.” “So the government, instead of objecting to the fact that the book has not been published, should have let him speak because, in any case, the magazine is publicly available. Anyone can read the same article that Rahul ji has read. I have just read it myself; others are reading it now,” he said.
It seems the overreaction of the government has needlessly paralysed the House, Tharoor alleged.
“To my mind, it would have been healthy for Parliament to have allowed the discussion to proceed, which is what Parliament is for,” the former Union minister said.
On the BJP MPs’ charge that India lost territory to China during Jawaharlal Nehru’s government, Tharoor said the most important thing is what Congress did during Nehru’s time, which was to conduct debates in Parliament.
“Every single day when the 1962 war was going on in November, there was a debate in Parliament. There was no whip. Even government MPs were able to criticise the government and Nehru. During the 1965 war or 1971 war, there were Parliament sessions going on,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP pointed out.
Parliament was always briefed, and the nation was taken into confidence, he asked.
“Why do we have a government that is afraid of discussion? It is really a pity. The government should not have reacted in this way and should have allowed a discussion…Have a full discussion on China; the foreign minister, the defence minister…let them all speak. Don’t have a situation where everything is brushed under the carpet,” Tharoor said. PTI ASK AMJ AMJ
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