Opposition’s ‘rare view’: Tharoor says Parliament should be used more for discussions than disruptions

Participating in the discussion, Ashwani Kumar said the prestige of judges depends not upon what they say but what they do with what they say. Human dignity is at the core of our democracy, the Constitution and also the freedom struggle, Kumar said, adding that a society was judged by the justice it was able to serve.

He said rulers could not find excuses and the question of leadership was at the heart of the matter.

Earlier, quoting from Kumar’s book — “no democracy can sustain if power becomes concentrated, that it depends as much on vigilance as on design” — Tharoor said the book brings about the importance of dissent in a democracy.

He asserted that the deficit of principled leadership around the world is a danger, and not just a strain on institutions. “A republic is not sustained just by institutions but by the values that animated them,” Tharoor said regarding Kumar’s argument in his book. He made no reference to the Congress or the BJP in his speech.

Political scientist and activist Yogendra Yadav said the word republic is a deep one, adding that it is insufficient to say that the Constitution is being challenged. “It is our Republic that we are losing in the last 10 years,” Yadav said.

He commended Kumar on the balance and non-partisanship in his tone, and the hope it retains. He added that in the present times, it was necessary to take sides, as the only way to describe what happened in Gaza was genocide. He underlined that what was happening in Iran right now was dismantling of the world order.

He wondered how bulldozer action was being taken despite the Supreme Court ruling against it, adding that what made the apex court angry were “three words in a textbook”.

Yadav said it is possible we as a society have not been able to provide a simple language to make liberal values meaningful for common Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.

Columnist Gurcharan Das, another panelist, said his problem was that he could not vote either for the BJP — “as it is making our liberal traditions illiberal” — or Rahul Gandhi.

He said another matter of concern was the pendency of 50 million cases, with most people in prison as undertrials.

Chandhoke wondered why former JNU students Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid were being denied bail for years without a trial.

While acknowledging a delegitimisation of dissent, Tharoor said the very fact that Chandhoke could still speak critically showed that there was still room for dissent.

Vikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He has over 17 years of experience, and has worked earlier with The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, among other publications. He has covered the national BJP, some key central ministries and Parliament for years, and has covered the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and many state assembly polls. He has interviewed many Union ministers and Chief Ministers. Vikas has taught as a full-time faculty member at Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Symbiosis International University, Pune; Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai; and as a guest professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Vikas has authored a book, Contesting Nationalisms: Hinduism, Secularism and Untouchability in Colonial Punjab (Primus, 2018), which has been widely reviewed by top academic journals and leading newspapers. He did his PhD, M Phil and MA from JNU, New Delhi, was Student of the Year (2005-06) at ACJ and gold medalist from University Rajasthan College in Jaipur in graduation. He has been invited to top academic institutions like JNU, St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and IIT Delhi as a guest speaker/panellist. ... Read More

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