Congress leaders took to Twitter on Friday (July 15) to mock the BJP government for issuing an order that barred members of the parliament from using the precincts of the House to hold protests, demonstrations, Dharna, fast, strikes or performing any kind of religious ceremony.
Some social media users were, however, quick to put the Congress leaders back in place by sharing a similar directive that the UPA administration had issued, when it was in power in 2009, 2013 and 2014.
On July 14, Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody issued a news bulletin ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning July 18, stating “Members cannot use the precincts of the Parliament House for any demonstration, dharna, strike, fast, or for the purpose of performing any religious ceremony. Kind cooperation was Members is solicited”.
Sharing a copy of the order issued by PC Mody, the Congress general secretary and chief whip of the party in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh took a dig at PM Narendra Modi. He Tweeted, “Vishguru’s latest salvo — D(h)arna Mana Hai!.”
Vishguru’s latest salvo — D(h)arna Mana Hai! pic.twitter.com/4tofIxXg7l
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) July 15, 2022
Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill called the order ‘Dark day for Democracy’. Taking to Twitter, he said that this is an official stamp on the BJP government’s mission to transform democracy into a dictatorship where only heads should nod and slogans should not be raised. He called the new order an attack on the ethos of Parliament. BJP wants to transform the “Temple of Democracy” into “Durbar of Sycophancy”, he said.
Dark day for democracy !!
— Jaiveer Shergill (@JaiveerShergill) July 15, 2022
This is Official Stamp on BJP Govt mission to transform democracy into dictatorship where only heads should nod & slogans should not be raised !!
Attack on ethos of Parliament -BJP wants to transform “temple of democracy” into “durbar of sycophancy” pic.twitter.com/4h9svXDZP2
However, many social media users dug out a copy of an identical directive the UPA government had issued when it was at the helm of affairs in the years 2009, 2013 and in 2014.
“Same circular is being issued by Parliament since 2009. Can you @Jairam_Ramesh name the party in power in 2009 which banned Dharna in Parliament?” Tweeted popular Twitter user Ankur Singh.
Same circular is being issued by Parliament since 2009.
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) July 15, 2022
Can you @Jairam_Ramesh name the party in power in 2009 which banned Dharna in Parliament? https://t.co/5ZYVwVQ9fF pic.twitter.com/ThIpF6ypFd
ABP News journalist Vikas Bhaduria Tweeted while sharing a copy of the 2009 order issued by the Congress themselves, “according to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the order to stop the protest and any other demonstration is a routine process, the Lok Sabha Secretariat continues to issue such orders from time to time, a similar order was issued in 2009. Copy of that order.”
लोकसभा सचिवालय के मुताबिक़ धरना और किसी भी तथा के प्रदर्शन पर रोक का आदेश रूटीन प्रक्रिया है, ऐसे आदेश लोकसभा सचिवालय समय समय पर जारी करता रहता है, ऐसा ही आदेश 2009 भी जारी हुआ था उस आदेश की कॉपी pic.twitter.com/aYljzmWE2M
— Vikas Bhadauria (@vikasbha) July 15, 2022
“Seriously Ramesh …. ???” Tweeted another popular social media user Rishi Bagri.
Seriously Ramesh …. ??? pic.twitter.com/Mw8n8rZAWG
— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) July 15, 2022
Jeering the Congress party, Twitter user Sunilkumar said that the BJP government has reissued the old circular since they know it would keep Congress occupied with outrage while they take advantage of the opportunity to form their government in a new state.
Aap der se jaage ho. Actually Sarkar aap logo ko troll kar rahi hai. Purani notice naye se issue karke. Aap log is par outrage mei busy rehte ho aur us time BJP wale doosri state mei sarkar bana lete hai.🤣 pic.twitter.com/ThcbqBV5oI
— Sunilkumar ಸುನಿಲ್ ಕುಮಾರ್🇮🇳 (@Sunilku00412101) July 15, 2022
Meanwhile, Twitter user @skraivns shared the screenshot of the copy of an identical order issued in the year 2013, when again Congress was at the helm.
Similar orders put in 2013…Who’s Sarkar was it anyways? pic.twitter.com/dOEAcyo0gP
— Sushant Kumar Rai (@Skraivns) July 15, 2022
A close look at the circular issued by the BJP government yesterday and the ones that were issued by the UPA government in 2009, 2013 and also on 2014, makes it sufficiently clear that they are absolutely identical. In fact, every single word mentioned in the circulars are exactly the same. All these circulars read, “Members cannot use the precincts of the Parliament House for any demonstration, dharna, strike, fast, or for the purpose of performing any religious ceremony.”
Meanwhile, regarding the aforementioned circular over protests at Parliament premises, Lok Sabha Secretariat clarified that such a process is a routine one, and guidelines are issued before every session of the Parliament, news agency ANI reported.
Lok Sabha Secretariat on guidelines over dharna, demonstration, fast, or any religious ceremony in Parliament premises, clarifies that such a process is a routine one and guidelines are issued before every session of the Parliament
— ANI (@ANI) July 15, 2022
Congress spreads lies that the Modi govt has ‘banned’ certain words in the Parliament
Notably, prior to this, Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders had also resorted to spreading lies that the Modi government has ‘banned’ the use of certain words in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla had clarified that no word has been banned from use in parliament. He added that members are free to express their views using any word while maintaining the decorum of the House.
Om Birla clarified that the booklet only contains a compilation of words which have already been expunged from parliament or assembly records earlier. “It’s a routine practice continuing since 1959,” he said, adding that if the opposition reads the 1100-page dictionary of unparliamentary words, they would have known that it is released regularly.
“No words have been banned”, he made it clear, adding that no one can snatch the rights of the members of legislative houses to express their views, but it should be as per decorum of the parliament. He denied allegations by the opposition that it is a gag order, saying people unaware of parliamentary practices are making all kinds of comments. He also added that the legislatures are independent of the government.
