Cong amended Constitution to protect those in power: FM Sitharaman in RS (Ld)

New Delhi, Dec 16 (IANS) Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, initiated the Constitution debate in Rajya Sabha on Monday and stated that the Congress amended the Constitution to protect those in power.

Mentioning an incident from 1949 she said, "Majrooh Sultanpuri and Balraj Sahni were both jailed in 1949. For what reason? During a meeting organised for mill workers in 1949, Majrooh Sultanpuri recited a poem written against Jawaharlal Nehru, and for that, he was sent to jail. He refused to apologise for it and was therefore jailed in 1949 along with Balraj Sahni, the eminent actor of those days."

"That was the level of intolerance," she added.

The Finance Minister also criticised the Congress for holding the Constitution in their hands, going to vote, and talking about freedom of speech, but still claiming that "there is a sense of fear in the country," she said.

"Did Majrooh Sultanpuri feel it? Did Balraj Sahni feel it? But history repeats itself when it comes to the Congress party," she added.

In 1988, the book 'Satanic Verses' was also banned, following the bans on Nehru's biography and the film 'Kissa Kursi Ka'. "This spree of curtailing the freedom of the press happened before 1949, during 1949–50, and it continues," said Sitharaman.

She further claimed that the judiciary was held in contempt. "A constitutional amendment was made to nullify the judgment in the Indira Gandhi vs. Raj Narain case, wherein the Allahabad High Court set aside the election of Indira Gandhi."

"A case was pending, being heard in court, but there was a hurry — what if the court came against her? The 39th Amendment Act was passed, which added Article 392(A)," she added.

She accused late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of making decisions against the court, "To save her chair, the amendment was made before the court's verdict, misusing the law for personal gain."

"Going against the court, which provides justice for the betterment of society, there was the Shah Bano Begum case. In this case, the Supreme Court granted alimony to the woman to give her justice, but then the Congress party, in 1986, passed an Act denying Muslim women their right to alimony" she professed and added that the Congress followed no intentions of social benefit or economic perspective while making amendments.

Talking about Emergency, Sitharaman said, "During the Emergency, the process was completely violated. The term of the Lok Sabha was extended without proper justification. In that extended term, when the entire Opposition was put in jail, a constitutional amendment was made. Was the process valid? It was a totally invalid process."

"Only five members opposed the Bill in the Lok Sabha, and there was none in the Rajya Sabha to oppose it. Yet the amendment, changing the Preamble, happened," she added.

These amendments were not about strengthening democracy according to the Finance Minister, but about protecting those in power.

She also quoted B.R. Ambedkar who argued against including the word "socialism" in the Constitution: "I do not see, therefore, why to tie down people to live in a particular form."

"As many as 21 MPs were held in jail under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). There are leaders who kept their children’s names after MISA to remind them of those black days, and today, they wouldn’t mind having alliances with them," she added.

She remarked that all these together turned the qualitative text of the Constitution into something different from what it was originally, as adopted on November 26, 1949.

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