Opinion - Editorials

A salutary step

THE RULING OF the Deputy Speaker and Presiding Officer of the Lok Sabha, P. M. Sayeed, on the contentious `Gujarat' issue — whether it should be discussed under a rule that mandates a vote on the motion or under one that does not — is salutary in two respects. First, it has broken the deadlock that had paralysed the House for six days and enabled it to get on with its pending budgetary and legislative business. What paved the way initially was indeed the `willingness' of the Government and the Opposition to leave the issue for a decision by Mr. Sayeed, whose word is binding on both sides. Secondly, his ruling — that it be debated on a motion that entailed voting — reflected a remarkable understanding of Gujarat-related concerns in the national perspective and, more importantly, an appreciation of the spirit of the Constitution especially while taking a view on the Centre's powers and responsibility to intervene in the governance of a State.

Clearly, the Deputy Speaker's decision, which in effect upholds the Opposition's contention, is a rebuff to the Vajpayee Government which had been putting forth all kinds of patently specious arguments against a censure motion just to avoid risking a Gujarat-specific vote in view of the open demand of the Telugu Desam Party and quite a few of the coalition partners for the removal of the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi. To portray whatever has happened in Gujarat under the Modi regime since the Godhra carnage — and still happening — as a mere `law and order' problem that falls in the exclusive domain of the State Government is ridiculous. And to argue, on that basis, that the Centre can do very little about it is irresponsible. While exposing the untenability of such a line of argument by the Government, Mr. Sayeed has drawn support from the findings of high-powered statutory bodies such as the NHRC and the NCM and also of some independent initiatives to establish that `Gujarat' was not a ``simple law and order'' issue related only to that State. Of profound significance is his reference to Article 355, which speaks of the Centre's duty to "protect" every State against "internal disturbances and to ensure that the government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution''.

Interestingly, the censure motion to be discussed (the one by Ramjilal Suman of the Samajwadi Party), while not being particularly stinging in its condemnation of the Government, has its focus on the minority communities, by seeking to get the House to voice its "grave concern" over the "failure" of the administration in ensuring their security ``in various parts of the country'', not just in Gujarat. This enlarged scope might be seen as somewhat of a relief to the Vajpayee regime which had been frantically trying to dissipate the focus with a view to making it easy for the anti-Modi NDA partners and friends to rally round the Government at the time of reckoning. Witness its challenge to the Opposition to bring in a `no confidence' motion if it was serious about voting on the Gujarat issue. But the fact that the thrust is on the security concerns of the minorities in general gives a much wider space for the secular parties — those in the Opposition as well as those who are a part of the ruling coalition or support it — to place Mr. Modi's Gujarat in the larger perspective of the Sangh Parivar's brazenly aggressive hate campaign and the BJP-led Government's unconcealed support and patronage to it. In fact, the recent developments on the Ayodhya front, the BJP's Goa policy line signalling a return to hardcore Hindutva, Mr. Vajpayee's own remarks about Muslims at a rally in Panaji and a whole lot of such pointers impinging on the status and security of the minority community should find a place in any serious debate on the motion. What is ahead for the `secular' partners in the NDA is indeed a crucial test of their avowed commitment to such basic values as pluralism and the rule of law.

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• A salutary step
• The search for a safety net
• Gujarat and the Islamic world
• Back to the Empire in new clothes?
• Jitters in the BJP camp
• Over-sensitive
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• C for Congress
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