It’s unparliamentary

BARELY 15 months after the new building of Parliament hosted its historic first session, parliamentary propriety finds itself battered and bruised. The just-concluded Winter Session will be remembered for the wrong reasons. A slugfest between NDA and Opposition MPs, triggered by Home Minister Amit Shah’s caustic remarks about BR Ambedkar, descended into a nasty free-for-all. A push here, a shove there — all hell broke loose as lawmakers locked horns in every sense of the phrase. Elected representatives disgraced not only themselves but also their voters with their words as well as actions.

Shah didn’t exactly cover himself with glory when he observed that it had become a fashion to chant Ambedkar’s name. He dragged the ‘Father of the Constitution’ into an unsavoury debate, and the Opposition — in a shambles after its stunning defeat in the Maharashtra elections — pounced upon this opportunity to target the ruling party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had to intervene to defend Shah and slam the Congress for its ‘rotten ecosystem’ and ‘malicious lies’.

Ambedkar is a national icon whom no party can afford to ignore. It’s obvious that parties on both sides of the political divide are playing a game of one-upmanship over his legacy. What makes this slanging match all the more deplorable is that it’s happening amid nationwide celebrations to mark 75 years of the Constitution’s adoption. This living document has stood the test of time, affirming India’s commitment to democracy, justice and equality. It is the collective responsibility of all parliamentarians to uphold the Constitution’s ideals. Their unwavering focus should be on working towards ensuring social justice and inclusive development, not on hitting each other below the belt. Maintaining the decorum and dignity of the august House is the least they can do. Otherwise, the new ‘temple of democracy’ will be reduced to a no-holds-barred theatre of the absurd, spoiling India’s deftly built image of Vishwaguru and Vishwa Bandhu.