"Assault On Democracy": Yashwant Sinha On Parliament Words Ban

The opposition's Presidential poll candidate Yashwant Sinha on Friday termed a new list of words deemed “unparliamentary” and a circular forbidding demonstrations inside the Sansad Bhavan premises were the latest in a series of “unprecedented assaults” on democracy in the country.

Addressing a press conference here as part of his campaign, the former Union minister claimed the parliamentary system of democracy, under the current regime, looked “pangu” (crippled) and urged the public to “wake up” before it was too late.

“In every democratic system, the House of directly elected representatives allows for free debate. This is a reason why words uttered inside Parliament fall outside the ambit of judicial review. With all types of words which can be used to criticize the government deemed unparliamentary now, we are witnessing yet another assault on the country's lokshahi (democracy)”, said Sinha, who has served as a Member of Parliament for several terms.

The bureaucrat turned politician who had held important portfolios such as Minister for External Affairs and Finance in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, also expressed outrage over the circular that forbids MPs from staging a demonstration in front of a imposing statue of Mahatma Gandhi within the Parliament complex.

“Parliamentary system of democracy is all about debates and discussions, on the floor as well as outside and at various committees. But the country and the Constitution seems to have gone into wrong hands. Democracy is under attack on an unprecedented scale, on a daily basis. It has never looked so crippled (pangu)”, he added.

Sinha, who was a Bihar cadre IAS officer until he took the political plunge four decades ago, also referred to the Agnipath controversy which had left the state in throes of a violent protest.

“In every country, there is a military service and there is a national service which provides the youth with an opportunity to serve on an ad hoc basis. Agnipath falls in neither category. The Agniveers will be on streets (sadak veer) after completing four years of service and we cannot imagine the social unrest it will lead to”, he noted grimly.

Sinha acknowledged that as per the Constitution, the President did not enjoy many powers but asserted that a right person for the job “could summon the Prime Minister and advise him on various issues”.

“The problem is that there is no mechanism in place which can put a check on the current regime's recklessness”, said the former BJP leader.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)