Oppn attacks govt for doing nothing to stem intolerance

Opposition parties today blamed the BJP-led government for doing nothing to allay the apprehensions of the people in the prevailing atmosphere of alleged intolerance and communal strife in the country, saying it also had "difficulty" with the word secularism in the Constitution.
Participating in the debate on commitment to India's Constitution in Lok Sabha, Congress chief whip Jyotiraditya Scindia referred to Home Minister Rajnath Singh's speech yesterday where he had said the word 'secular' was not in the Preamble when the Constitution was adopted but was incorporated through the 42nd amendment in 1976.
"This government has difficulty with the word secularism and that is why it was highlighted in the debate," he said.

Scindia attacked the government for allegedly remaining silent over the protests by artists and writers over the "growing intolerance", saying it had done nothing to remove the alleged fear psychosis of the people.
The Congress leader said when two Dalit children were allegedly burnt alive, a central minister gave the analogy of a dog. When someone questioned a Governor for his statement that 'Hindustan is for Hindus', he said that 'Muslims are free to go to either Pakistan or Bangladesh'.
When artists were returning awards, a sitting MP compared them with LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and even President of a political party had said that crackers would be burst in Pakistan if BJP lost the Bihar assembly elections, virtually describing the people as traitor.

Scindia's claim that RSS had burnt the effigies of B R Ambedkar when he talked about Hindu code thinking that it was an attack on the Hinduism, invited sharp reaction from ruling party benches.

When Speaker Sumitra Mahajan expressed doubts over what Scindia said about RSS whether it was correct or not, the Congress leader asserted that he was telling historical fact.
"Don't show your intolerance to the historical facts," he told the ruling party members when they objected.
Scindia said he is a Hindu and was married to a Hindu and that was a complete private issue. But his religion taught him to respect other religions, beliefs and other faiths.

While AIADMK's K Gopal wanted the government to "find solutions to the problems of intolerance and communal violence," Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee said secularism had found a pride of place in the Constitution.
Citing several instances, Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) said
certain actions of the Centre went against cooperative federalism.
"Don't try to be the big brother of this country...," he said in an apparent reference to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that "nobody is under anybody" in the context of Centre-State relations.
Noting that all chief ministers are good administrators, Banerjee urged the Centre to ensure that chief ministers and state governments are not undermined, as he referred to instances like the Centre's move to have an official to monitor central schemes implemented by states.

Banerjee said that states were not taken into confidence before the government decided to levy cess for Swachh Bharat.
Observing that it is time to see "how much faithful we are to the Constitution," Banerjee said "Secularism has given the pride of place in the Constitution", but was not followed.
AIADMK's K Gopal said there was an urgent need to find path breaking solutions for the problems faced by the country.
"We should find solutions to the problems of intolerance and communal violence," he noted.
Raising concerns over Centre-State relations, Gopal said central governments, whether that of UPA or NDA, have been trying to derail the powers entrusted to the states, adding that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill was such a danger.

He said the implementation of GST would lead to huge revenue losses for the states and wondered how the Centre could "crush the rights of states".
If the Centre supported federalism, then it should make Tamil and other languages listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution as "Indian national official languages", he said.
Prem Singh Chandumajra (SAD) called for having a code of conduct to ensure that the provisions in the Constitution are implemented. An impartial institution should be also established for this purpose, he added.
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Maintaining that the parliamentary form was the best form of government, former Speaker P A Sangma said after India's independence, many other nations got independence but it was only here where this system has been running uninterrupted.

"It is the only form of system which is suitable for our country. We should continue with this form of government," Sangma said.
Intervening in the debate, HRD Minister Smriti Irani said the biggest tribute to Ambedkar was the government's education policy. As Babasaheb wanted free and compulsory education for every child, she said it was during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime that right of education was introduced.
She said that in the last 11 months, over one lakh villages, over 5,000 blocks and 573 districts have sent their suggestions in writing on what they wanted to be included in the education system.

Shiv Sena member Arvind Sawant spoke on the financial inclusion programmes of the government like the Jan Dhan Yogna and lamented that only public sector banks had come forward to implement it and not the private ones. If the public sector would die then the private sector would make profit and run away, he said.
He praised Ambedkar for forcecully raising issues concerning labour laws and also urged the government to work on election reforms.
AAP member Harinder Singh Khalsa expressed concern over some sections talking about religious conversions and 'ghar wapsi'. He also said Ambedkar did not "only represent dalits and untouchables" but the entire people.

About the country's education system, Arun Kumar (RLSP) said the talk about intolerance was "denting" the image of the country and urged the media, artistes and authors not to indulge in such things.
He also wanted more to be done in the field of education as was sought by Ambedkar.