In his Parliament address, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, said that it is essential to discuss about the failures of India’s Parliament while speaking of 75 years of its operations, citing draconian laws passed by Parliament, genocides against Muslims and Sikhs that have occurred in India, and the representation of Muslims in the parliament.
Owaisi in his speech targeted the present and former governments for passing draconian laws TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act), UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act), AFSPA (Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act) and POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002), which are now being used to target minorities and curtail voices raised against the government.
Owaisi went on to say: “The poor and oppressed Muslims, Kashmiris, Dalits and tribals are losing the confidence in our Parliamentary democracy. That is why the people are on the streets to protest. Be it CAA, farm Bills or reservation of the Scheduled Caste, it is important that we keep heart of the democracy — the Parliament house — beating.”
Owaisi noted that of 8,992 members of the Lok Sabha till date, only 520 have been Muslims. “There should have been at least 1,070 Muslim MPs so far. Despite Muslims constituting 14 percent of the population, they get a representation of only 4.8 percent in the Parliament,” he said.
“We have become the voters, but couldn’t become a vote taker. What decisions will you take when 14% of the population will not be represented in the Parliament?” asked Owaisi.
Owaisi also recalled incidents like the 1984 Sikh genocide, the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the Bhagalpur Muslim massacre, Muzaffarnagar violence, and Gujarat Muslim genocide.
Owaisi said there was no point in moving to the new Parliament building if the government of the day did not follow the Constitution honestly.
Owaisi added that if the Union government did not find a way to stop the trend of violence against minorities in the country, the new Parliament building will become another “Hitler’s Reichstag.”
“Changing the pitch does not change the game. You have to change the game but you are busy changing the pitch. We have to follow our Constitution unwaveringly. If this does not happen, the new building may also become Hitler’s Reichstag building,” he said.
“By hosting parliamentary sessions like these, we are walking on the path of the British by wasting taxpayers’ money,” Owaisi added.
He said: “Baba Saheb Ambedkar always said that the British used to call Parliament to increase taxes and today we are going on the same path.”
