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Journalism of Courage
A special salute to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for coming up with a bonding technique for a fissiparous Parliament and a quarrelsome bunch of law-makers who are perpetually at each other’s throat. After the experience of the Monsoon Session that was all but rained out, any idea that has the potential of getting Parliament functioning normally and contributing to cross-party harmony is to be welcomed.
Now Azad’s suggestion, which he has penned down as a personal missile to each MP, is a shade radical. As The Sunday Express has reported, he has invited his 500-odd colleagues in the house to participate in three of the 24 events shortlisted for this purpose. Going by Azad’s list, there is something for everyone. For the die-hard Swadeshi, there is kabaddi — alas only for men — and for the corporate type, there is a round of golf — open to both sexes; for those partial to coalitions, there is the three-legged race and for those truly at sea, there is freestyle swimming; for the saas-bahus in the House there is the lime and spoon race (ladies only) and for those from the wild side of politics (of which there are a legion), there are shooting events and a game that entails “hitting the post with a hockey stick”. Well, better to hit the post than a fellow MP, certainly.
The idea, presumably, is to drain our MPs of destructive energy that sometimes expresses itself in slanging matches, slogan-shouting, and energetic walkouts, keep the wheels of Parliamentary interaction moving smoothly and promote what Azad optimistically characterises as “team spirit”. We can only hope for such an outcome. It will never do if Azad’s initiative contributes to the already strongly polarised nature of public life. We will then have to bring in the Election Commission to umpire a cricket match between the Congress 11 and the BJP 11, even as their respective supporters go hysterical in the stands, and the Supreme Court may be required to decide on the constitutional principles that should rule the administration of the “sack race”.
