Boundaries of truth

Remarkably, several other questionable concessions litter our Pakistan policy during the NDA regime. In 1999, Vajpayee became the first Indian PM to endorse the state of Pakistan by signing the visitor’s book at Minar-e-Pakistan. He also became the first Indian head of state to admit Kashmir was an issue between India and Pakistan, which needed to be resolved through bilateral talks.

In private conversations with me, many Pakistani politicians have lamented that they miss the benevolence of the NDA government, compared to the hardball attitude of the present government. Even Lal Krishna Advani has confessed in his book that despite his being the home minister, he never came to know who had authorised Jaswant Singh to escort the captured terrorist Maulana Masood to safe havens out of India. There could possibly be more skeletons waiting to tumble out of the NDA’s cupboard, but nothing could be more shocking than its willingness to buy peace over Kashmir by dividing the state. We do not know if Shuja Nawaz’s claims are true, but the NDA clearly owes a clarification on this issue to the Indian people.

Heroic speaker

Frustration with the trust vote debacle finally led the CPM to expel its senior leader and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. The signs were ominous ever since Chatterjee declined to resign as Speaker in spite of continuous pressure from his party. While Chatterjee remained committed to his constitutional duty and insisted upon keeping the Speaker’s office above politics, his party was more desperate to bring the UPA government down at any cost.

Ironically, Chatterjee has emerged as one of the definitive heroes of the trust vote debate earlier this week. As Speaker, his conduct of the House’s proceedings earned widespread praise from MPs across party lines. No other Lok Sabha Speaker in recent memory has been able to command the level of respect that he has enjoyed so far. Those who have witnessed the House’s proceedings over the last few days can easily vouch for his candour and authority as the presiding officer of the House. So great is his stature that in spite of the fact that he belongs to an opposition party, the treasury benches had full faith in him. Nobody wanted him to step down, except his own party.

Now that his tenure as Speaker is about to end, Chatterjee has set many noteworthy precedents for the efficient functioning of Parliament and I hope that the current and future generations of MPs will take be duly inspired by his conduct in the House.

Troubled waters

The controversy over the Sethusamudram project refuses to die, and the latest government affidavit filed in Supreme Court over the Sethusamudram project has taken the fight once again to the BJP and other parties opposing the project.

The opposing parties have often cited the Ramayana and other ancient scriptures to claim that construction of the canal will damage the Ram Setu — the mythical bridge said to be built by Lord Rama — and will hurt the faith of millions of followers of Lord Rama. But the latest government affidavit cites from the same scriptures to prove that Lord Rama had broken the bridge himself at three different places.

The government might have rightly found support from the sacred texts to go ahead with the project, but I would still urge shipping minister T.R. Baalu to tread cautiously and safeguard the faith of millions of Lord Rama’s followers. This is also vital to prevent the BJP and VHP (among other organisations) from taking political mileage out of this controversy, who are otherwise relishing the idea of a new opportunity to milk, after Ayodhya.

The writer is a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha