Congress leader Anand Sharma said on Monday that the “country belongs to all,” while pleading against drawing lines in the minds of young people as it will damage the country’s soul.
Mr. Sharma, participating in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha, wanted more time to speak. On being repeatedly disturbed by the treasury benches, Mr, Sharma said: “I request you with folded hands to let me speak as this could be my last speech. Now you can interpret it the way you want”. His six-year term in the Upper House ends in April.
Mr. Sharma raised the merger of the Amar Jawan Jyoti, the eternal flame at India Gate, with the one at National War Memorial. “Amar Jawan Jyoti was dedicated to soldiers killed during the Bangladesh war, but it was merged. I am a practising Hindu, I know a flame cannot be merged.. It was said that India Gate is a colonial legacy. Those killed were not mercenaries.”
He said the President’s speech was just a laundry list of achievements by the Government. “I was thinking, who wrote the President’s speech? Whoever wrote it should be answerable. They did not do justice to the President, it belies the present circumstances. A rosy picture is being shown. Everyone wants the country to progress, a line is being drawn that Opposition does not want it to.”
He said that there was no mention of national security in the President’s address. “Over one lakh force is deployed at China border. Newspapers know, foreign departments know, shouldn’t this be discussed in Parliament? In 1962, Nehru discussed the situation in the middle of a war. We were told that in-camera briefing will be done for parliamentarians (on China), but nothing was done,” he said.
The work done by previous governments should not be dismissed as a country cannot run on a single ideology. “India did not rise in 2014, it is a culmination of 74 years. Jawaharlal Nehru remained in jail for 14 years and Indira and Rajiv Gandhi were martyred, how can you question their contribution? We acknowledge the work done during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure also. We never said Vajpayeeji didn’t work, but this government says that the Congress government has not done anything at all, which is wrong,” he said.
“You were not bequeathed a country that was barren and people didn’t have clothes to wear or which didn’t have a standing in the world. Read your economic survey for the level of unemployment in the country. Only 52 crore people are employed, 42 crore don’t have jobs... We are not saying that you invited COVID-19 on telephone, it affected the economy, we are aware of that. Economy is at March 2020 level,” he said adding that “the debt to GDP ratio is 90% and this won’t be corrected by selling national assets.”
He said there was no mention of national security in the address.
“In English it is just two words, hate speech, and since the world is inter-connected, other countries are asking, should this happen in India? This country belongs to all... Indian origin people are everywhere. Kamala Harris, Priti Patel, Rishi Sunak, Sundar Pichai — what will they be think,” he asked.
“Yesterday the country paid homage to Lata Mangeshkar ji, we heard her song, ae mere watan ke logon…. don’t damage the country’s image. This country belongs to all, we have to move forward together. Don’t draw lines in the minds of young people, it will damage the country’s soul,” he said.
The discussion on the Motion of Thanks concluded on Monday, with Deputy Chairman Harivansh noting that a total of 39 MPs had participated. Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda was among those who spoke on Monday. He raised issues related to farmers and said the Budgetary allocation for agriculture and allied sectors had been disappointing. Binoy Viswam of the Communist Party of India said his party opposed the motion of thanks. “The motion can only be opposed because the speech of the President was full of tall claims,” he said.
