In a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi Government, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has, in a newspaper article, said that in the past some months, “we have witnessed the prime minister and his government systematically dismantling all three pillars of India’s democracy – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary”.
The government’s actions had demonstrated “a deep-rooted disdain for democracy and democratic accountability,” the Congress leader lamented.
The article appeared on the Op-ed page of an English newspaper on Tuesday.
“In the last session of Parliament,” she wrote, “We saw a government-led strategy to disrupt Parliament and prevent the Opposition from raising issues of grave concern to the country and its people, such as unemployment, inflation and social divisions, and discussing the year’s Budget and the Adani scam among other vital issues.”
“Faced with a determined Opposition, the Narendra Modi Government resorted to unprecedented measures – expunging speeches, preventing discussion, attacking Members of Parliament, and finally disqualifying a Congress Member of Parliament at lightning speed,” the article pointed out. As a result, the Budget of Rs 45 lakh crore was passed without any debate, she added.
“Enforcing silence cannot solve India’s problems. The prime minister is silent on legitimate questions on his government’s actions which affect the lives of millions,” she said.
“The Narendra Modi Government’s misuse of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate is well known, with over 95 per cent of political cases filed only against the Opposition parties, and cases against those who join the Bharatiya Janata Party, miraculously evaporate,” the Congress leader alleged.
“The misuse of laws meant for national security against journalists, activists and reputed think tanks has been unprecedented,” Mrs Gandhi said.
“The prime minister makes grandiose statements about truth and justice even as allegations of financial fraud against the prime minister’s chosen businessman are ignored, Interpol withdraws the notice against the fugitive, Mehul Choksi, and the convicted rapists of Bilkis Bano are set free and go on to share a stage with BJP leaders,” the article said.
The media’s independence has long been compromised by the political intimidation of the government coupled with the financial might of the BJP’s friends, with evening debates on news channels emerging as slanging matches to shout down and silence those who question the Government, the newspaper article said.
“The prime minister ignores the rising tide of hatred and violence, egged on by BJP and RSS leaders and has not once called for peace or harmony or acted to rein in offenders, let alone bring them to justice,” Mrs Gandhi wrote.
On the border issue with China, the Congress leader wrote, “We have the spectacle of the Prime Minister in denial about Chinese infiltration, the Government blocking discussion in Parliament, while the external affairs minister adopts a defeatist attitude when it comes to China, which is further emboldened in its intransigence.”