“I, …………
(Name), having been elected a member of the House of the People (Lok Sabha) do swear in the name of
God/solemnly affirm that I will bear
true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India and that I
will faithfully discharge the duty upon which I am about to enter.” This is the oath that a newly elected member of the Lok Sabha
takes. While the MP can swear in the
name of God while taking the oath, it is not binding on her/him to do so. She/he is free to solemnly affirm her/his allegiance to the Constitution of
India and not swear in the name of God,
if she/he so chooses.
This format of oath or affirmation is enunciated in the
Third Schedule of the Constitution of India in Article 99.
Thereby, there is no scope to add
words or sentences, whether it is “Jai
Shree Ram” or anything else; even patriotic ones; to the format that constitutes the
oath of newly elected member.
Neither can words or sentences be deleted from the format of the oath. Either way, it will no longer constitute an oath of office and will be
treated as a violation of the Constitution.
In my opinion, there is only one
course of action that can follow an act of violation of the Constitution – disqualification of the member.
 |
| Locket Chatterjee, BJP MP from West Bengal shouts Jai Shree Ram in the course of her oath taking in the Lok Sabha |
The words of religious belief that accompanied the oaths of
BJP and AITC Parliamentarians from West Bengal will no doubt be expunged. Is it enough? Keep in mind, that the
same was spoken in the course of oath taking and not during a Parliamentary
discourse. There is a clear line of
distinction between unparliamentary and unconstitutional conduct. It is not a thin line either. Surprisingly, Hon’ble Speaker of the
Lok Sabha, Mr. Om Birla far from reprimanding the errant members, wore an amused expression as the
charade was enacted. A newly
appointed Government servant cannot suffix his pledge with “Jai Shree Ram” or “Jai Ma Kali”. She/he will be asked
to take the oath again as per format.
Failure to do so, will lead to
cancellation of her/his appointment. Our Parliamentarians have
extraordinary privileges indeed.
 |
| Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, AITC MP from West Bengal shouts religious slogans in the course of her oath taking in the Lok Sabha |
Through the 42nd
Amendment of the Constitution of India enacted in 1976,
the Preamble to the Constitution declared India as a secular nation. Secularism
in the Indian context signifies: –
·
The state has no religion of
its own. Every citizen, irrespective of her/his religious faith is equal before
the law of the land. No preferential
treatment will be accorded by the state to the followers of any particular
religion. Neither will the state
discriminate against the followers of any particular religion.
·
Citizens are free to practice, profess and preach their own
religions. There will be no
Government interference in this regard.
Parliament is the place,
where not only laws of the land are not only enacted, but also protected against abuse. Do our religious slogan shouting lawmakers even realize that by chanting
“Jai
Shree Ram” or “Jai
Ma Kali” within the hallowed
precincts of Parliament, they have
abused the Preamble and violated the Constitution? I am sure they don’t, because they don’t care for Constitutional propriety. The word ‘Secularism’ that is so distinctly enshrined in
the Preamble and the values it signifies have been tossed out of the windows
with disdain by the very people whom the Constitution has empowered to uphold
it. The hopes which the citizens
elected their representatives died when the law makers broke the law with
impunity in the very hall where laws are made and secured.
One thing that the errant MPs must have forgotten in
exhibiting their religious zeal was that the constituencies they represent, consists of citizens of multiple
faiths. When an MP shouts “Jai
Shree Ram” or “Allah
Hu Akbar”, the followers of
other faiths in his constituency naturally feel left out of her/his attention. Such open exhibition of religious bias and that too in the temple
of democracy is not expected from an elected law maker of a secular nation. Temples, mosques, churches, gurdwaras etc. or even a person’s own
home are the appropriate places for pursuing one’s own religious beliefs. Parliament is the place to deliberate
on issues of national development and cannot be appropriated for frivolities. The religious cries of the MPs
indicate that not only are they irresponsible, they are indisciplined as well.
Already, enlightened, intelligent debates from stalwart
Parliamentarians, which used to be the pride of the Indian Parliament,
are things of the past barring a few rare exceptions. It has become a
norm for MPs from both treasury as well as opposition benches to rudely
interrupt another MP in the course of his speech with catcalls and boos.
What could possibly be more unfortunate than being vocally drowned out with
religious cries in addition, brazenly reeking of communal intent in the
sanctum sanctorum of a secular democracy. If such deviant behavior is
not dealt with firmly from the outset, errant MPs will be emboldened to
repeat such indecency time and again and the casualty will be the interests of
the common man.
Finally, MPs are representatives of people of all
religious faiths of their electoral constituency. They should not
exhibit their personal religious faiths openly in Parliament and thereby create
a notion of religious bias. Else, people of other faiths will
feel discriminated against and also feel being excluded from the attention of
their elected representative. This is not desirable in a secular,
democratic nation, especially in the modern age. Let us not
forget that people of all faiths work in important Government institutions like
defense, police, education, healthcare etc. Each
and every one of them serve the nation in their own way. As a nation,
we cannot afford to exclude anyone from the nation building process and from
process of creating national progress and prosperity. It will hurt every
Indian citizen and cost the nation a lot if a soldier put down his gun during a
war or a doctor hung his stethoscope in the middle of a treatment,
because they felt that as citizens they were denied equality and given an
unfair deal because of their religious faiths. God forbid, but
India could see such a calamity if our unruly politicians are not reined in
without delay.
©
Sugato Mitra
12.59
PM, 10th July, 2019
Bhopal
No comments:
Post a Comment