Disruptions, protests, and sloganeering by opposition MPs in Parliament is nothing new and is considered par for the course in a democracy. But sometimes, these protests result in members getting suspended—though rarely for the entire session.
And so, it wasn’t normal what transpired in both the Houses this past week—a first in India’s Parliamentary history. Over several days during the winter session, a total of 146 opposition MPs were suspended for demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the security breach in the new Parliament on 13 December. The irony of the situation was not lost on anybody—it was on the same day 22 years ago that armed terrorists attacked Parliament, killing eight security personnel and a gardener.
To be sure, the incident this time wasn’t a terrorist attack, but it was a glaring breach of security protocol nevertheless. ‘What if it was anthrax?’ as Congress Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala asked. But the fact is that it wasn’t anthrax—only gas canisters exploded in an empty space inside Parliament by two men who were supposedly dissatisfied with the state of unemployment and price rise in the country.
And while that’s definitely not the way to express disappointment, as shown by the slapping of anti-terror UAPA charges on the six people involved in the breach, the opposition’s persistence for a debate isn’t seemingly the way either—at least according to BJP Lok Sabha MP Hema Malini. “Itna sawaal uthate hain…kuchh ajeeb sa behave karte hain,” she told the media, clearly outlining why the opposition’s behaviour in Parliament deserved a punitive action like suspension from the House.
But Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari seemed to ‘know’ the real reason behind suspension. “This is to lay the framework for passing the most draconian laws in Parliament,” he alleged, after affirming that Parliament has been “totally delegitimised”.
After all, is the act of opposition MPs demanding a statement from the home minister worthy of suspension of almost two-thirds of the members of both the Houses? ‘No, it isn’t,’ say former parliamentarians. They call it “unprecedented” in India’s parliamentary history.
PDT Achary, former Lok Sabha secretary general, who was witness to the parliamentary proceedings for 40 years, says that such a huge number of MPs have never been suspended from Parliament, that too for demanding a statement on such a serious issue like the security breach.
From cries about ‘murder of democracy’ to bemoaning ‘opposition-mukt Parliament’ to charges of disruption and unruly behaviour, the week put ‘democracy slide’ back in public debate.
And, that is why the large-scale suspension of MPs from the winter session of Parliament is ThePrint’s Newsmaker of the Week.
Also read: Why no public outcry over suspended MPs? Indians love to vote but won’t guard institutions
‘MPs well within their right to seek statement’
According to Parliament rulebook, MPs holding placards and storming the well of the House shouting slogans is a violation and the presiding officer (Speaker in Lok Sabha, Chairman in Rajya Sabha) can suspend such MPs for disregarding the authority of the Chair.
But a second provision under Rule 374 says that the Chair can suspend an MP whose intention is to obstruct the business of the House “willfully and persistently.” Achary says that in the present case, the intention of the protesting MPs was not to obstruct the House proceedings but to seek a statement from a minister.
“This does not merit suspension of MPs,” he says, adding that in earlier times, if there was some important development taking place, the minister concerned would suo moto make a statement in the House.
“Why should the opposition demand a statement on such a grave matter? Article 75(3) of the Constitution says that the council of ministers is collectively responsible to the House. This means the government is accountable to the House,” Achary adds.
The opposition has been up in arms ever since their MPs were suspended, terming it “murder of democracy.” Sonia Gandhi, the chief of Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), condemned the action at the CPP meeting, saying that democracy has been strangled by the (PM Modi-led NDA) government.
“Never before have so many opposition MPs been suspended from the House, and that too simply for raising a perfectly reasonable and legitimate demand,” she said at the meeting.
Also read: Spare Parliament of one-upmanship. BJP needs to be tactful to counter opposition’s theatrics
Breakdown of communication
Whether the action of opposition members was intended to obstruct the business of the House and therefore warrants such large-scale suspension is open to debate. But the episode has again exposed a more disturbing fact: there is now a total breakdown of communication between the treasury and opposition benches.
Parliament watchers say everything wasn’t hunky dory earlier either. Disruptions happened in the past as well, but floor managers from the treasury benches used to reach out to the opposition to resolve the differences. More often than not, it was the parliamentary affairs minister who played a key role in bridging the divide.
But now, all channels of communication seem to be lost; there’s hardly ever any visible effort to start the communication between the two sides and make things smoother.
It’s not that parliamentary proceedings in the past did not witness any disruptions or suspensions of MPs. In March 1989, 63 MPs were suspended for three days for disrupting the House over the Thakkar Commission Report, which looked into the assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi. The Congress, led by Rajiv Gandhi, was in power back then.
But despite the disruptions, there was a bonhomie among the treasury and opposition benches. This has been replaced by a growing hostility between the two sides in the past 8-9 years. Old timers in Parliament say this does not augur well for the largest democracy in the world.
Also, what has become the biggest fallout of the mass suspensions is that crucial Bills are getting passed in the House without any debate or discussion. Post the mass suspension, half-a-dozen important Bills—including the three criminal law Bills, the bill to appoint the Chief Election Commissioners, and the Telecommunications Bill—were passed in both Houses that had near-empty opposition benches.
On Thursday, the current Parliament—which completed its last winter session—was adjourned sine die. The next winter session will happen under a new government next year. But the unprecedented action of suspending two-thirds of the opposition MPs—from the first full session in the new Parliament building after it was inaugurated in May this year—will get etched forever in its record book.
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(Edited by Prashant)