WATCH: First-Time TMC MP Mahua Moitra Points Out "7 Signs" Of Fascism In India

Mahua Moitra referred to a poster in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum containing a list of all the signs of early fascism. “Each of the seven signs I have pointed to you featured in that poster,” she said as several Opposition members and at least one BJP ally thumped their desks in the House.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra (PIC/AITCoffical YouTube)

New Delhi:  First-time Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday gave a fiery speech in the Lok Sabha accusing the BJP of spreading fear across the country since 2014 and politicising the issue of 2.77 acres of land (in Ayodhya). "The BJP is mixing religion with citizenship. Through the National Register for Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Bill, only one community is being targeted," Moitra charged, adding even school textbooks are being changed to indoctrinate students. The MP from Krishnanagar in West Bengal said there is an erosion of electoral system and a "dangerous fascism" rising in India under the BJP. Holding that the Constitution was under threat, Mahua Moitra (TMC) said there were signs everywhere that the country was being torn apart. Citizens were being thrown out of their homes, she claimed. Lynching of young citizens, she said, was taking place and drew the attention of members to the lynching of Tabrez Ansari in Jharkhand. She also alleged the five large media houses in India were directly or indirectly being controlled by a single man. Moitra referred to a poster in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum containing a list of all the signs of early fascism. “Each of the seven signs I have pointed to you featured in that poster,” she said as several Opposition members and at least one BJP ally thumped their desks in the House. The following are the seven signs Moitra listed: The first sign: There is a powerful and continuing nationalism that is being speared into our national fabric. It is superficial, it is xenophobic, and it is narrow. It has a lust to divide. It is not a desire to unite. Citizens are being thrown out of their homes and are being called illegal immigrants. People who have lived in this country for 50 years have to show a piece of paper to prove they are Indians. In a country where ministers cannot produce degrees to show that they graduated from college, you expect dispossessed poor people to show papers as proof that they belong to this country? Slogans and symbolsa re being used to test allegiance. There is no one symbol, one slogan that can show any Indian that they are a patriot. The second sign: There is resounding disdain for human rights that is permeating every level of governance. There has been a ten-fold increase in the number of hate crimes between 2014 and 2019. 10X. It is like the valuation of an e-commerce start-up, Sir… The list of lynchings is not stopping. The third sign: There is an unimaginable subjugation and control of mass media today. Five of the largest news media organisations in India are today either indirectly controlled or indirectly debted to one man in this country. TV channels spent a majority of airtime broadcasting propaganda for the ruling party. Coverage of every Opposition party is cut out. The fourth sign: There is an obsession with national security — identification of enemies. When we were children our mother used to tell us to do this and do that or kala bhoot will come. It is as though all of us in this country today are in fear of some nameless, shameless kala bhoot. There is fear pervading everywhere. The achievements of the army are being usurped in the name of one man. Is this correct? The fifth sign: The government and religion are now intertwined in this country. Do I even need to speak about this? Need I remind you that we have redefined what it means to be a citizen? With the NRC and the Citizenship Amendment Bill, we are making sure that there is only one community that is the target of anti-immigration laws. Members of Parliament these days are more interested in the fate of 2.77 acres of land than in the 812 million acres of the rest of India. Yeh sirf 2.77 acre janmabhhoomi ka mudda nahi hain. Yeh sara desh, 80 crore acres, ko akhand rakhne ka prashna hai. The sixth sign: It is the most dangerous. There is complete disdain for intellectuals and the arts. There is repression of all dissent, funding is being cut for liberal education, scientific temperament…. Everything we are doing is pushing India back to the dark ages. Number seven, the last sign: There is an erosion of independence in our electoral system. The Election Commission was used to transfer key officials. Rs 60,000 crore was spent in this election; 50 per cent by one party, Rs 27,000 crore. In conclusion, I quote the poet Rahat Indori: “Jo aaj saahibe masnad hain kal nahin honge  Kiraaydaar hain jaati makaan thodi hai,  Sabhi ka khoon shaamil yahan ki mitti me  Kisi ke baap ka hindustan thodi hai?” (With additional information from Agencies)