Saugata Roy speaks during Short Duration Discussion on lynching and other atrocities in mob violence

Saugata Roy speaks during Short Duration Discussion on lynching and other atrocities in mob violence

Posted on July 31, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Sir, I rise to speak on the (point) 193 discussion in the name of Khargeji and myself. Let me state at the outset that I shall not be dealing with mob violence in general but I shall deal with mob violence related to bovine issue, that is cow-related mob violence.

Sir, main yeh debate ko, us aur them, BJP and opposition, yeh debate nahi banana chahta hoon, nahi main yeh debate ko Hindu vs Muslim debate banana chahta hoon. Mera yaad hai, Nazrul Islam ka ek kavita jahan unhone bola, “Hindu na ora Muslim, oi jiggashe kon jon, kandari bolo dubiche manush santan mormar”.(Bengali) Kaun poochta hai woh Hindu ya Muslim hai? Woh naiyya bolo ki doob raha hai insaan jo humare maa ki bete hain. Main navik/naiyya, toh main yeh kehna chahta hoon ki yeh jo violence ho raha hai, iske barein mein log keh sakte hai kitna hua, kitne log mare, kaun mare, yeh sawaal uthana nahi hai. I am reminded of a poem by John Dunn quoted in Hemingway’s ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’. It says, “Every man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Therefore ask me not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee”. Har insaan marta hai toh main chota hota hoon, aur aaj isi spirit mein yeh charcha hona chahiye, main yeh samajhta hoon. Lekin, lekin, jab hum charcha mein bhaag le rahein hai, kuch tattha, kuch facts aapke samne lana chahta hoon.
(Interjection: Bangal ke bare mein boliye…)
Bangal ke barein mein bhi bolenge, Dilli ke barein mein bhi bolenge, kaise aap log har gaye the dilli mein, Kejriwal ke paas.

Sir, one database, one magazine prepared a database from 2010 to 2017, how many bovine issue related incidents there were. They calculated that from 2010-2017, there were 63 incidents. Sir, I don’t want to bring Hindu and Muslims, but 97 per cent of these incidents between 2010 and 2017 came after Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, 97 percent of these incidents. Sir, of the 28 people who were killed in this bovine issue related incident, 86 per cent were Muslims. Now I want to ask the members of the ruling party, woh har dum kehte hain, unke Sabhapati kehte hain hum birodhi mukt Bharat karenge, Congress mukt Bharat karenge… Main puchna chahata hu kya aap log Muslim mukt Bharat karne chahate hain? Toh aap kya chahate hain, aap batao. Main pooch raha hoon. Sir, main poochna chahata hoon yeh Muslim ko rahene ki adhikar kya nahin hai? There are death of 28 people in this related incidents, out of them 24 were Muslims. Now, as I told you earlier, I don’t want to relate to general mob violence. Kabhi traffic accident hota hain, wohan bhi mob violence hota hai. It takes place. Sir, 24 were Muslims. Now I want to ask and 52 per cent of these attacks were in BJP related States. 2010-17, 97 per cent attacks were after BJP came to power and 52 per cent attacks were in BJP-ruled States. Main kise ka naam nahi le raha hoon. I want to say that this cow related killings are all targeted killings. Professor Saugato Bose reminded me in the morning the USA, after the civil war, there was an organization called Ku Klux Klan. They used to make targeted killings of black people, of coloured people. Yeha jo ho raha hai targeted Muslim killing hota hai, bolta hai ki tum bhago, desh chod ke jao. Aur kaun kar raha hain yeh? Yeh kar raha hai, this is also from the statistics.

Sir, again I’m giving the statistics. In 23 attacks, the mobs are groups of people who belong to Hindu groups, such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and local Gau Raksha Samiti. Yeh log kaun hai. Yeh log ruling party ka bandar hai, jo Bharat mein ladai chala raha hai. Ruling party ke bandar hai yeh log. Yehi log saara desh mein yeh kar raha … bandar hai. Achha mein bandar nahin boloonga. Bandar ko bandar nahin boloonga. Mein promise kar diya. Mein nahin boloonga. Mein hanuman ko hanuman nahin boloonga. Yeh bajrangbalee hai. Sir, yeh ruling party ke bajrangbalee hai.

Sir, the Honourable Minister (S.S. Ahluwalia) intervened. I only want to inform you that a missing diary has been lodged in Darjeeling police station against their missing MP. He is not to be seen in the Darjeeling Hills. So, let him not speak. Let him go to Darjeeling from where he is elected.

Sir, Mr Kharge has given in detail all the various incidents. He has mentioned 24th June, when a 15 year old poor boy, Junaid Khan, was murdered on a train in Ballabgarh, Haryana. He has mentioned the incident which took place on 1st April, 2017, when a man called Pehlu Khan, was murdered on the National Highway in Alwar district in Rajasthan. He has mentioned the incident in September 2015, when a man, Akhlaq, was beaten to death in UP’s Dadri village. Sir, somebody was mentioning about Bengal. Sir, I want to mention that very few cases of bovine related violence happened in Eastern States, including Bengal and Odisha.

Sir, things have happened there. Now, why this is not being controlled, you may wonder. It is not being controlled because the BJP top leaders were very shy of condemning these incidents. Sir, you would know that it took Haryana Chief Minister three days to condemn the killing of Junaid in Ballabgarh. It took the central leadership of BJP Ravi Shankar Prasad four days. Sir I did not relate what all Hukumdev Narayan Yadavji said because he is a confused man, a mixture of Ram Manohar Lohia and Deendayal Upadhyay. What will I talk about him. It took about six days for the Jharkhand CM to own up lapses for innocent young men being beaten to death. In his own state, 10 men are beaten to death. It took him six days to condemn that. It took Rajasthan Chief Minister one month to condemn the Alwal lynching, and the Prime Minister himself has so far only made two statements condemning Gau Rakshak. One in 2016 and recently on June 29, he made a statement in Sabarmati Ashram, where he condemned (violence in the name of) Gau Rakshak. It’s a good thing, but why did it take him so long? And you know, nobody trusts him when he condemns this, because on the same day when he condemned the killings in Sabarmati, the same day in Jharkhand, Alimuddin alias Asgar Ansari was beaten to death in Jharkhand’s Ramgar, suspected of carrying beef.

So the ruling party has always erred in not condemning this enough. And now the ruling party president is involved in saying so many lynchings have taken place during the UPA time. The question is not that of who’s time it is carried out, the question is whether the Governments are performing their duties, Sir, you know in UP, 10 such incidents have taken place. Six incidents in Gujarat and Rajasthan, all BJP ruled states. Sir, I have some concrete suggestions. Under CrPC and IPC, lynching is not defined. Under 223A of CrPC, you can say in mob killings people should be judged differently. I demand that a separate law, Sir, I suggest that just as after the Nirbhaya incident, just as a fresh law modifying the IPC was brought in this Parliament, I demand that a Manab Suraksha Kanoon for preventing lynching should be brought by the Government. Because lynchings are primitive, lynchings are feudal, just to think that a man is crying for mercy and he is beaten mercilessly by some people who are either accusing of smuggling cows or accusing of being child lifters. This cannot go on. Sir, the country is ashamed. Today people from all over the country have come out in demonstration in the big cities with the Not In My Name protest. Today, 114 Generals of the Army, they have issued a statement condemning this lynching. Sir, the country is changing. I do not know who will be in power tomorrow? But people in whose time human beings are beaten to death will not be pardoned in the annals of history.

With that Sir, I end my speech.

Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien makes a Point of Order about Short Duration Discussion on crimes against marginalised

Posted on July 19, 2017 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

From yesterday, we are trying to start this debate, and the Government is telling us that we are not interested in this debate. We are serious about this debate. Twelve parties in the Opposition have signed these Notices. This is a serious issue. The Leader of the House is here. It is wonderful. He will listen to us. Let him do that.

We are not saying the Prime Minister has to come and speak. Let the Leader of the House and the Home Minister come and answer. This is not about one or two parties, it is about the entire Opposition; about 130 MPs have given the notices. So let us be very careful as to who is serious. We want this discussion, but we want a meaningful discussion with action. The perception and intention that the Government is serious should also be there.

Derek O’Brien speaks during a Short Duration Discussion on the situation arising out of the rise in prices in the country | Full Transcript

Posted on July 27, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Sir, let me begin by thanking you for giving me the opportunity to initiate this discussion on price rise. I would also thank my colleagues across the parties who have all jointly signed this notice, which we actually prepared even two weeks before Parliament began. It is good to have the Minister here who himself is a son of the soil – mitti ka log – so I’m sure he will take some corrective action. And in the spirit, I think that by the end of the discussion, which is around two-and-a-half hours, there should be some measurable benchmark to find out whether one, two or three months down the line, this discussion has become fruitful or has it just been a Short Duration Discussion in Rajya Sabha where there has been no action taken.

Inflation figures

Sir, one way of setting the platform for this discussion is to throw some light on some numbers of the Government, about retail inflation, food inflation, vegetable prices, pulses, etc. But I thought, Sir, that I would refrain from doing that – there are many colleagues who will speak on this. The numbers are all very well known – retail inflation is at a 21-month high, food inflation is up by 7.5%, vegetable prices are up, prices of pulses are up by 30-50%, prices of eggs are up and so are the prices of meat and fish.

The only silver lining here is that if we look closely, all the prices are up but it is even worse today to be a vegetarian in India than a non-vegetarian because comparatively, prices of meat and fish are more in control. The Minister has all these figures. So I am not going to waste much time by talking about these figures.

Benchmark for discussion

My colleagues from Trinamool Congress – we are a practical, and because we are practical we have our feet to the ground. That’s why, Sir, we weren’t surprised by the great verdict which we got in Bengal, which Mamata Di led us to two months ago; the reason being that we have our feet to the ground.

Today, Sir, through you, I want to share with the Minister, some data – not from the research library here or from my research team in Kolkata of the Trinamool Congress. I have here with me last week’s prices of dal, tomato, potato and other commodities collected from 30 markets across the country – Surajpur Market in Noida, Mandera Bazaar in Allahabad, local market in Rudrapur, Danteswari Market in Jagdalpur and Shastri Market in Raipur, both in Chhattisgarh, Khanna Market in Gobindgarh and Hall Gate Subji Mandi in Amritsar, both in in Punjab, markets in Indore, Bhopal, Jammu, Kalimpong, Kolkata (Gariahat market), Adra, Patna, Rampur Market in Gaya, and so on. Sir, with your permission, I want to table this here after my speech.

Click here to view the price chart in markets

So when we come back to discuss the issue, rather than look at any other figures, we should look at these 30 markets. Let us make this a benchmark for this discussion. So I will lay this, Sir, on the table after I finish. This is the benchmark we should use and the issue has to be solved between the Centre and the States.

Problem of cartelisation

Sir, the first point I want to refer to, Sir, is to a trend and would like to refer to the Eco-Wrap report published by the State Bank of India. It tells us that potato prices increase every 2 years, the onion prices increase every 2.8 years and the tomato prices increase every 2.4 years. I want this Government to please take note of this report and investigate if there is possible cartelisation or a conscious decision to grow a particular crop in a year by vested interests.

I may be flagging this issue of price rise now but there were others who are much more articulate and erudite than me who flagged the same price rise issue in 2012. In May 2012, that person said, “Massive hike in petrol prices is a prime example of the failure of the Government. This will put a burden of hundreds of crores on them.” There is another message, Sir, on November 2013 by the same person, “Wherever I went, I saw that people are troubled by rising prices. Sadly, no leader is saying anything to assure people on the issue.”

Bhashan vs Action

Sir, these two tweets were made by the then Chief Minister of a State in western India on the issue of price rise. The then Chief Minister was very concerned about this issue and I am sure today in his new role he is equally concerned about this issue.

Sir, we have raised this issue today not for sharing brickbats but to find a solution. Sir, the bottomline is that this Government has to be responsible for the pain they are causing to people. Sir, there is considerable pain. This pain is not only restricted today to the rising prices of essential commodities but even to medicine prices, which we discussed in the morning.

Positive examples from States

One of the solutions we are offering, Sir, is to learn from some of the States that have made significant progress on how to curb price rise. Sir, my first suggestion, which my colleagues here in Parliament had made in December 2015, is when you are importing, you are importing from faraway African countries. The positive suggestion we made that time was, by all means import from there, but also import from the neighboring countries.

Sir, there are a couple of other things that are working very very well in Bengal. According to the Economic Survey 2015-16, the lowest rate of inflation in this country, less than 3%, is in Bengal. This was achieved due to monitoring of prices of the essential commodities by task forces we have set up. A lot of work has happened in Bengal but I am here not only to blow the trumpet of Bengal but also to share three or four significant schemes which are operational in Bengal, and which I believe can be taken as examples (Kanyashree, for example, has become Beti Bachao Beti Padhao).

There is a scheme called Sufal Bangla, through which fair price shops in Bengal are selling pulses and vegetables at a much lower rate because they are purchasing them directly from farmers. Sir, this is making a significant impact. My friends from different States, who will be speaking, will all have their own suggestions to offer.

Good luck wasted

Sir, I have two or three specific suggestions with which I will end. In this issue of price rise, what has bothered me most is that this Government has inherited good kismet, good luck (the global price of crude oil, which was at 110 dollars per barrel is now down to 45-47 dollars per barrel). But they have not been able to translate the good luck. There are at least six to seven countries where the price of petrol has come down or gone up by a maximum of five or ten cents. But in India, Sir, those benefits are not being passed on to the consumer. On one side they say ‘acche din’ but the ‘achhe din’ is not for the larger percentage of the people.

Follow the example of Bengal

Sir, I have three or four very simple suggestions to offer. One, to curb the distress selling by farmers, set up air-conditioned vehicles for transport of vegetables. We have 40-50 such vehicles in Bengal and it has worked, Sir. In Bengal, the retail price of potato is Rs 14 per kg which is being sold through the fair price vegetable shops. Sir, these are the big issues. Sir, there are test drives conducted by the State government to help control the prices.

Focus on basic issues

Sir, I have to say, this Government is very good at communicating on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites. But when it comes to these basic issues, they have forgotten who are the people that gave them this historic mandate in 2014.

Sir, I will end now. All I have to say is that at the end of it all we will judge this government not by what figures they give.

Fudging data won’t help

I will end with a story. There was a person who had a problem: ‘what is two plus two’. So he went to a mathematician, who said that two plus two is four. The same person then went to an accountant, who told him that two plus two is four, plus minus 5 per cent. This person then went to an economist who was a part of the government. When he asked the economist what two plus two was, the economist closed the door, called him close, and made him sit. Then he asked the man slowly what he actually wanted the answer to be. This is the situation, Sir. Fudging of numbers is not the solution we want to see.

When we come back after 30 days or 60 days this government has to be responsible for bringing down the prices in those 30 odd markets of India, for which I have submitted the papers, and the rest of the country as well.

Thank you, Sir, for giving me this opportunity.