AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi. (Express photo)
Nationalism, secularism, communalism, CAA, and Shaheen Bagh marked speeches of MPs as the discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address continued for the second day in Lok Sabha.
BJP member from Medinipur, West Bengal, Dilip Ghosh said his state suffered the most as anti-CAA protesters burnt trains and dislocated railway tracks.
Using the barb “Shikhandi” — the transgender warrior in ‘Mahabharat’ used by Arjun as a human shield to kill Bhishma in the battle of Kurukshetra — to describe the ruling TMC in Bengal, Ghosh, also the state unit BJP chief, said: “Unfortunately, these shikhandis are in power there. The police did nothing. They did not use their baton, nor did they file an FIR.”
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was shown “go back” banners during his Kolkata visit but Rohingya Muslims and “infiltrators from neighbouring countries were welcomed”. He alleged that anti-CAA protesters, including those at Shaheen Bagh, are enjoying “biryani bought with foreign money”.
Speaker Om Birla expunged Ghosh’s remarks regarding functioning of West Bengal Assembly. Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan, of BJP ally JD(U), accused the Opposition of spreading misinformation on the CAA and said, “Efforts are being made to vitiate the atmosphere for political gains …Yes, we have to contest elections, but not at the cost of playing with the unity of the country.”
When TMC’s Saugata Roy tried to interrupt him, Singh sought to know how could a state government refuse to implement a law passed by Parliament.
Nama Nageswara Rao (TRS) wondered how the government can make India a $5-trillion economy in four years when that requires a growth of at least 16 per cent per year. He said the terms of the 15th Finance Commission were “unjust” to states in southern and eastern India.
Taking potshots at the government’s purported failures on different fronts, Congress’s Shashi Tharoor said it should name its schemes “sit down”, “shutdown” and “shut up, India”. He accused the government of dividing the country into “Hindus versus Muslims, Us versus Them, and Ramzade versus I won’t say”.
Tharoor also criticised the government for quoting Mahatma Gandhi for its defence of the “draconian” new citizenship law.
AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi said, “I would like to ask Prime Minister Modi if he calls himself a brother to Muslim women, why is he afraid of them now?”
National Conference MP Hasnain Masoodi said, “Abrogation of the special status (of J&K) has been a historical blunder and no less than a misadventure.”
D Ravikumar (DMK) regretted that it did not speak about the plight of people belonging to the SC and ST communities.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said the President’s address did not mention the Ganga and said the river can be clean only when other rivers, including the Yamuna, are clean.
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