The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC), in response to the nationwide protest called by the All India Congress Committee (AICC), staged a protest rally against the suspension of 146 INDIA MPs at Congress Bhavan, Kohima, on 22 December 2023.
“These MPs, belonging to both the houses of Parliament, were suspended because they demanded an address by the Union Home Minister over the issue of security breach brought about by the entry of two intruders into the Lok Sabha, whose entry incidentally was facilitated by a BJP MP,” the NPCC said in a statement.
NPCC said that such blatant abuse of power by the government of the day at the centre is unprecedented in the modern history of Parliamentary democracy in India and the rest of the world, and cannot be condemned enough.
“Needless to say, the actual reason for which the Modi government resorted to these mass suspensions was to ensure the passage of consequential bills without any meaningful parliamentary discussions and debates,” NPCC claimed.
NPCC said that the bills passed under these “subversive environment” include the three “draconian” Criminal Justice Bills, which it said envisions arming the state with “overarching draconian powers” to impede on the rights of its citizens; the “equally draconian and sinister” Postal and Telecoms Bills, which it said is basically an open license to the government to snoop and pry on any and every individual in complete contravention of universally accepted personal privacy rights; and “last but not the least – The Chief Election Commissioner Appointment Bill, under which the Chief Justice of India has been dropped from the selection panel entrusted with the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election commissioners, sounding the death knell of the already heavily assaulted integrity and independence of the apex electoral institution of the country.
“We refuse to cower down to the bullying tactics of the BJP and will continue to condemn and oppose their agenda to destroy the democratic principles upon which our founding fathers built our Nation,” the NPCC maintained.