Opinion Manoj Kumar Jha writes: On Parliament, government is trying to gaslight Opposition – it won’t work

If those who are responsible for running it use everything they have — numerical strength, control over parliamentary processes (interpretation of rules, suspensions, etc), manipulation of infrastructure (mics and cameras) — to browbeat the Opposition it is indeed a sordid state of affairs.

The government expects the Opposition to cower and is naturally disappointed when it stands firm. It only frustrates them more. And that frustration is now showing. I would like to ask Bhupendra ji if a “crime against humanity”, like what happened in Manipur, had occurred during the rule of any other party and the BJP was in the Opposition, how would have they pleaded with the government to have a nuanced discussion? Would his party have chosen to ignore the appeal of the distraught families of Manipur who were keen to listen to the Prime Minister for once?

Parliament is not just a magnificent building, with or without the Sengol. It is meant to be a site for free and fair discussion, more so in times of massive national crises. Manipur symbolises the larger politics of demonisation and othering being carried out as a national project in different parts of India. I have said it on many occasions through my pieces in this newspaper that “dog whistle” politics aiming at the polarisation of people and communities in different parts of India is the singular achievement of this government, which wishes that the Opposition would conform to this politics without raising its hands to speak up.

For the ruling party at the Centre, after browbeating comes the gaslighting. Despite all the evasion, subterfuge, hectoring and arm-twisting by the government, the Opposition is being told that it is responsible for Parliament not being run properly. If the government feels helpless even after having so much concentrated power — which it does not shy away from using — then the problem is not with the Opposition. The problem is with the thinking that the government’s hegemony gives it a pass to violate the letter and spirit of the principles on which this great country’s legislature has been run so far.

I have no qualms in saying that this government is insecure and does not behave like it has won with a huge majority two times. It does not have the confidence and self-assured attitude of a ruling party. It is perpetually in outraged mode — always feigning hurt, always wielding righteous anger as a weapon. While this may work in election rallies and television studios in terms of rhetoric and optics, it reeks of weakness: “We’re the winners but, poor us, we’re also the victims”.

Those who have thrown out all kinds of public and parliamentary deliberations with regard to law-making do not get to lecture the Opposition. You do not disclose the public comments received on the draft laws/bills, you bypass or undermine parliamentary committees, you ram the bills through with “discussion” barely lasting a few minutes, but you want the Opposition to be a part of this charade? We will not agree to bear the burden of your shoddy law-making when you do not respect institutional norms and the well-established tradition.

Our voices will always register the dissent of our people. Let history be the judge of this. The people know the truth. No amount of gaslighting is going to make the country disbelieve their own experience of witnessing the government evade issues of public interest in Parliament.

Just scroll through any social media platform and you cannot miss people’s consternation at the strategic silence the PM maintains on too many issues to count now. He does not speak to the press; he does not speak to Parliament. The erosion of thousands of crores of national wealth does not inspire in him a willingness to discuss. The total breakdown of law in a sensitive state cannot compel him to speak. It is to the credit of the Opposition that the PM finally decided to come to Parliament in the Monsoon session, though he preferred to utilise the occasion for whataboutery and to heap ridicule on the Opposition parties.

A parliament delivers its best when the ruling party led by the Prime Minister sets the agenda for vibrant sessions where debates are not seen only through the narrow prism of numbers, where the Treasury Bench is keen to listen to diverse views with respect. Alas, we could never find in our Prime Minister that kind of protagonist.

The basic tenet of parliamentary democracy is the fact that we are answerable to the people and we have been voted to raise our voices about the issues and concerns of people at large. We are sensitive to the aspirations of our people and that means that we do not think of people’s support for us as a season’s pass to subvert democratic institutions. If you ever ask us or allow us to speak – our vision for the country and its people is unmistakably positive and it shall remain so in spite of your brute majority which you misuse interpreting the rules of the house to subvert the best features of democracy.

The present parliamentary Opposition knows that obstructionism should be avoided. It is a weapon to be used in the rarest of rare cases. However, if parliamentary accountability is subverted and a debate is intended to be used merely to put a lid on parliamentary accountability, it is then a legitimate tactic for the Opposition to expose the government through the institutional instruments available to it. And before any eyebrows are raised this was the opinion of none other than the late Arun Jaitley, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha in 2012.

The writer is Rajya Sabha MP from Rashtriya Janata Dal