I.N.D.I.A Stages Nationwide Protest Against MPs' Suspension, Says Need To Send 'United Message'

Congress MPs called on the nationalist organisations to take part in the protest and send a message in one voice against the suspension of 146 MPs from Parliament.

A day after parliament's winter session concluded, the leaders of the opposition's I.N.D.I.A coalition have taken to the streets across the country protesting against the mass suspension of 146 MPs from parliament. A record number of MPs were suspended during the winter session after they began asking for Union Minister Amit Shah's response to the Parliament security breach that took the nation by shock on December 13. From Dec 14 to 22, a total of 146 MPs were suspended -- together from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha -- for their disorderly conduct and disrupting House proceedings.

Now, the leaders of the I.N.D.I.A bloc have come together to protest against the suspension at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury are among the leaders taking part in 'Save Democracy' protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said that the leaders will fight for the 140 crore people in the country. "We will fight for Parliament and parliamentary dignity, fight for the Constitution...Democracy is being strangled in India. If Parliament has to be run without opposition, if there is no freedom to ask questions, if the accountability of the government is not fixed, and if the Constitution is not followed, then what meaning will be left of Parliament. We are fighting this battle together, we will neither be afraid nor get tired nor stop," he said.

Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin said the MPs's mass suspension shows this is "not democracy." "5 or 6 are fine but suspending around 150 members is not democracy. This message should reach the people. How will the Parliament function if all the MPs are out?... There has not been any such violation. An MP has the privilege to put his point forward...." he said.

Congress's Arvinder Lovely called the suspension a "blot to democracy". "India is world's largest democracy. Every Indian is proud of this. However, what happened in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha in the last few days is a blot on India's democracy," he said.

Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has also organised a sit-in protest against the suspension of opposition MPs from Parliament, near Raj Bhawan in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram. Congress workers in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir also held a protest against the suspension of MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Congress MP Manish Tewari called on all nationalist organisations to "save democracy in the country" and said there was a need to come together and send a message in one voice. Speaking on suspension, Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain said Parliament is the highest decision-making body and that over 700 MPs are elected directly or indirectly. "... The government has no right to suspend MPs and run the house. This government is completely dictatorial and undemocratic..." the MP added.

Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa asked if the Centre won't answer on Pak and China, how the country would function. "Sending the opposition out and passing the bills without a discussion, silencing those who demand an answer on the smoke bomb, then where is the democracy? If they don't want to give statements on China and Pakistan, then how will the country function?..." Randhawa said.

"They don't care about them (the soldiers). They are only concerned about how they can send the MPs out and do whatever they want..." he added.

Speaking at the protest site at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar says, "We are ready to pay any price to save the democracy..."

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said, "We need to save the democracy from those who are currently in power. The BJP must be held accountable for security breach incident in the Parliament."

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said it was natural on the part of the opposition to ask for a statement from the home minister, and added that the government remained adamant in not heeding their request. "So there were protests within the Parliament. The reaction of the government was to suspend 146 members of the opposition and ram through laws, which have far-reaching consequences on the daily life of people in India... The government wants to have a parliament which would only be a stamping house for all their laws without any discussion..." he said.

The Congress MP further added, "So they want the Parliament to just be like in China or in North Korea... This is a betrayal of the faith people have in the parliamentary system. We want to highlight this and tell them what is happening in parliament is not good for India.."

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that in the history of democracy in the world, 146 MPs have never been suspended. "...People should know that the democracy is in danger. The protest is to tell the people that whatever is happening is wrong for the future of the country... There is only one solution, people should change this government and bring the INDIA Alliance into power..." he said.