NEW DELHI (TIP): TMC MP Mahua Moitra’s  speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address enumerated a number of human rights violations and alleged executive excesses during the last few years of the Narendra Modi government. In her usual belligerent style, she made a note of how the US-based Freedom House Report downgraded India’s status from “free” to “partly free” and that India has fallen 17 spots to 111th position out of 160 countries in the Human Freedom Index. She also mentioned that India is at an abysmal 142nd position out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index, adding that the country “remains one of the most dangerous places for journalists today.” Her speech was peppered with references to the farmers’ agitation, the ‘Bulli Deals’ app in which Muslim women were auctioned and the Pegasus spyware controversy.Ms Mahua said:  “The way the masters of the republic mistrust the present is most accurately illustrated by the Pegasus mess. The government stands accused of having spent taxpayers’ money to buy technology to spy for years on its own citizens. To paraphrase a leading journalist, the New York Times is lying, The Wire is lying, Amnesty is lying, the French government is lying, the German government is lying, the US government is lying, WhatsApp and Apple – who have sued NSO are lying. Only this government is in splendid isolation with the truth on Pegasus. One minister calls it Supari media, another stands up in this house and lies to us blatantly. The government has misled even the Supreme Court.”She continued with references to raids on opposition leaders ahead of elections, targeting of Muslims by Hindu fundamentalists and recent attacks on Christians by the same groups in 19 Indian towns. She lashed out at the Union government’s attempts to alter IAS cadre rules and said that the tweaking of rules was a heavy-handed move by the Union government to “bully” bureaucrats in the states.“You mistrust the Jats, Sikhs and anyone who stands up to you. But as elections are around the corner, you shamelessly put on a pagdi,” she said in an apparent reference to the prime minister who had donned a Sikh turban during the NCC Republic Day camp. “You (the government) want to get inside our homes, what we eat, what we wear,” Moitra said.

Moitra claimed that the mention of freedom fighters in the president’s address was mere “lip service”. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who Kovind referred to in the speech, held the view that the government of India should have an absolutely neutral and impartial attitude towards all religions. Stating this, she asked, “Would Netaji have approved of a Haridwar Dharma Sansad that issues blood-curdling calls for Muslim genocide?”Moitra also accused the government of being in fear of an India which was “comfortable in its own skin”. “Ours is a living constitution, it breathes as long as we are willing to breathe life into it. Otherwise, it is just a piece of paper, black and white, that can be smudged into shades of grey by any majoritarian government,” she said.

The TMC MP also accused the Modi government of seeking to “alter history” and said, “They are fearful of the future and they mistrust the present.” She added that “this battle of 80% vs 20% that this government has started risks destroying our republic.” She appealed to all opposition parties to come together and defeat the BJP. “Woh Subah hum hi se aayegi (That dawn will come from us). Enough of sahanshilta (tolerance), daya (symapthy), Kshama (forgiveness), it is time now to become Tipu’s (Sultan) springing tiger.”

(With inputs collected by  Dave Makkar)