When Mahua Moitra got up to talk about a crucial legislation, this is how the Lok Sabha reacted.
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00:00Every time we disagree, this government, it's troll armies, it's propaganda machinery work
00:09over time to call us terrorist sympathizers, to call us the killer, to call us anti-national.
01:00Why? Why, sir, do I feel a sense of Venice? Why, ever since I've been elected and since
01:18my maiden speech, do friends and family call me and tell me to be careful? They'll somehow
01:23get you. Why do I feel this? Why are we in the opposition always at the risk of being
01:28called anti-national? Every time we disagree with this government on issues of national
01:33security, on issues of law and order, on issues of policing. Every time we disagree, this
01:39government, it's troll armies, it's propaganda machinery work over time to call us terrorist
01:46sympathizers, to call us the killer, to call us anti-national. Madam, I urge you to put
01:57the house in order, madam. Madam, I urge you to put the... Sir, I urge you to put the house
02:03in order, madam. Yes, Mr. Aluvalia, just one minute. Mr. Aluvalia, tell me the rule and
02:10please read the rule. Madam, I'm not yielding, please let me... When you are making allegations
02:15against government or against anybody, can you substantiate it? What you are saying?
02:25And if you can't substantiate it, you can't make such allegations. Where is the government
02:32troll machinery, our army? What she is talking about? Thank you, Mr. Aluvalia. Let me just
02:40read it to you, ma'am. Yes. No... I said we run the risk. I have said we run the risk.
02:51Just one minute, one minute, please. No allegation, no allegation of a defamatory or incriminatory
03:00nature shall be made by a member against any person unless the member has given adequate
03:08advance notice to the speaker and also to the minister concerned so that minister may
03:13be able to make an investigation into the matter for the purpose or a reply provided
03:18that the speaker may at any time prohibit any member from making any such allegation
03:25if the speaker is of the opinion that such allegation is derogatory to the dignity of
03:31the house or that no public interest is served by making such allegation. So, so, Ms. Moitra.
03:39Madam. Madam, I can fight my case. I can fight my case, sir. I can fight my case. Gaurav,
03:51I can fight my case. Madam, I will fight my case. Madam, Mr. Alu... Madam, he has not
03:59set the point. He has not set the point. You have said it's fine. You have said against
04:03any person. My allegation, I have ordered... Parliamentary Affairs Minister pointed it
04:08out. Parliamentary Affairs Minister pointed it out. Madam, Madam, Madam. Just the... My,
04:13my... I have not... My, madam... So, Minister of State is a minister. Mr. Roy, you know
04:18it better. Madam... No, no. What are you saying? What kind of acquisition is that supposed
04:24to be? Madam, this is nothing but a ploy to... Please be seated. Please be seated. A minister
04:28to the government of India is a minister. And, and, and he made a point. Madam, I will
04:54stand here. Madam, Madam, just because they have 353 does not mean they will shout us
04:59down. I stand my ground. I stand my ground. The honourable member did not point the point.
05:04You quoted the number. He did not. I have not made anything. I have not said anything
05:10against any single member. Madam, please... So, collectively, collectively you are saying
05:14against the government? I said no. You have not said it against one person. I said the
05:19propaganda machinery. I said the propaganda machinery and the troll armies. I am on record.
05:26I have said it is unfortunate that you need three ministers to stand up and fight me.
05:33It is unfortunate today that you need three ministers in the treasury benches to stand
05:38up and fight me. It is unfortunate. It is unfortunate. I welcome the honourable minister.
05:44Thank you. I am sure Mr. Shah will have the grace to hear me out. I have full confidence
05:51that if the honourable minister is here, he will have the grace to hear me out. It is
05:54a matter of, I would say, great shame that it needs three ministers to single-handedly
05:59handle me, but I will continue. Thank you. Because to paraphrase both the Mahatma and
06:05George Orwell, the truth is the truth even if I am a minority of one. And in times of
06:11disease, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
06:30I will stand here in this hallowed chamber and spell out my opposition to the faith.
06:41This is just a ploy to interrupt my speech. Please, sir, please keep the house in order.
06:58Sir, I beg you. I beseech you, sir. Please keep the house in order. I am looking at you,
07:07but you must keep them quiet. Please keep the house in order. Please keep the house
07:13in order. I have got 22 minutes. I will speak. Like I said, the truth is the truth even if
07:18I am a minority of one. And in times of disease, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
07:37Sir, I spoke only through the, before this, the Madam Chairperson, now I am speaking only
07:44through, I am following parliamentary procedure. It is unfortunate that the treasury branches
07:52seek it fit to disturb me and I will take an extra three minutes, sir, I am telling you.
07:57I will stand here in this hallowed chamber and I will spell out my opposition, sir.
08:11I will stand here in this hallowed chamber.
08:14I will spell out my opposition to this bill, not just to this bill, not just to the treasury
08:38branches, but to all the people of India who may be listening. This country still has,
08:43sir, please keep the house in order. I will keep speaking. Sir, they are disturbing me.
08:53I urge you to be fair. This country, this country still has people that appreciate nuance.
09:00It still has people who have not degenerated into this mindless world of black and white
09:06where either we can only be pro-government or we can be anti-country. We have not, all
09:11of India does not believe this. Even if members of this house may, all of India does not believe
09:16this. So it is possible to stay here, to stand here and be anti-government and still be pro-India
09:21and that's the space that I seek to represent today. Let me now go through this bill and
09:26point out what is so wrong with it. I will try and make it as simple as possible without
09:31the legalese. So ordinary citizens may understand this because this is not just a bill for lawyers.
09:36This is not just a bill for police people. This is a bill that may affect you and me
09:40tomorrow. So we must be able to speak in a way that ordinary people must be able to understand.
09:45There are two concentrates. According to this amendment, according to this amendment, honourable
09:53speaker, according to this amendment, honourable speaker, that is just the point. You have
10:00hit the nail on the head. You have hit the nail on the head, honourable speaker. This
10:05bill seeks to do one thing. One is to designate individuals as terrorists without due process.
10:14That is exactly what this bill is trying to do. The second thing, it is trying to do
10:19two things. There are two amendments that are very worrying. I would urge you to please
10:24stop them from heckling, Mr. Speaker, sir. There are two amendments here which are extremely
10:30worrying. I will go through both of them. The first is the amendment which is to clause
10:355, section 25, which enables the NIA to be able to go into any state and to arrest and
10:43seize and search properties without the permission of the state DGP or even without the knowledge
10:48of the state DGP. Now, this is completely against the federal structure of our country
10:53because if you see in list 1, you are trying to give the NIA policing powers under IPC
10:58and other special acts. The NIA is not an agency that is in list 1. It is in list 2
11:04that the powers of policing are vested with the state. So in this case, the only agency
11:09which is on list 1 is the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Central Bureau of
11:12Inquiry. Now, in this case, the High Court of Assam has even struck down the Constitution
11:17validity of even the CBI. That is a stay order case is pending in the Supreme Court. So in
11:22this case, where the NIA itself is under a cloud, you are giving it more policing powers.
11:27Even the CBI, when they go in to investigate, they work with the state police. We are a
11:32federal structure. States have a certain degree of sovereignty. In this case, if the DGP
11:37is not even aware of this and the NIA come in, this is a power which completely goes
11:42against the grain of the Constitution.
11:44The second point which is the most dangerous amendment is clause 5, section 35. Exactly
11:51what you referred to. What you are doing is you are seeking to designate individuals as
11:56terrorists in addition to the existing terrorist organization. In section 35, you are creating
12:02a whole different test of who is a terrorist, individuals involved in terrorism or he promotes
12:08or encourages terrorism. Now, section, the current UAPA in its current form already allows
12:14you to take all action possible for individuals that are involved in terrorism. You have section
12:2116, which gives you the death penalty and life imprisonment. You have section 38 to
12:2548, which criminalizes membership, support and raising funds. So there is no need to
12:31designate individuals without due process. You have set out in this section 36 a process
12:37for denotification. But there is no process for notification. You are talking about the
12:42UN Security Council saying in the Statement of Objects and Reasons that we have to be
12:47in line with international obligations. The UN Security Council Resolution 1373 lays out
12:53very clearly what is the process of raising funds. In this case, there is nothing laid
12:58out. There is no process. It's not even following law procedure. Forget about due process. So
13:03any government in India which has taken away the safeguards for life and liberty that the
13:09Constitution has given to us, no government has been able to survive without paying a
13:13heavy price. You yourself have got somebody who has come in, elected, and I respect the
13:18person who has come in, elected as an honorable member of Parliament, who is a terrorist used
13:22under NIA. You say it was political targeting. Fine, I can believe it may be political targeting,
13:26but you are doing the same thing that tomorrow may be targeting somebody else. So I urge
13:31you, Mr. Speaker, I urge you, through you, to tell the Honorable Minister to please withdraw
13:37this bill. This is anti-federalism, it is anti-constitutional, and it's anti-people.
13:41It is a very dangerous bill.