By Dr Olav Albuquerque
THE 27-year-old man who was arrested in Goa for posting offensive remarks against Muslims is only the tip of the iceberg because this peaceful state has undergone a metamorphosis, so that those who were peaceful have turned clamorous against minorities. There was a time in the past when all communities lived peacefully side-by-side but that is a distant memory.
We need to do a flashback of the disgraceful episode in Parliament during a debate in September on the success of India’s historic moon mission. BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri called Kunwar Danish Ali of the opposition Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) a “terrorist” and a “pimp” among other offending remarks.
The point here is that Parliament is a microcosm of legal immunity within the country so that no action can be taken against any MP who speaks after taking the permission of the Speaker when the house is in session. The Speaker can suspend the MP and ask him to leave the house. But apart from that, the MP gets total immunity from the Indian Penal Code because he delivered his so called speech in the house.
FLYING KISS BROUHAHA!
ANOTHER example is of the ruling party MP Smriti Irani making much of a brouhaha over a so called “flying kiss” blown by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi when it appears no such incident ever took place. So, our law-makers turn law-breakers when issues pertaining to the minority community are raised.
These remarks inside the newly inaugurated parliament building evoked angry reactions from the opposition parties and social media users who demanded strict action against Bidhuri. Kunwar Danish Ali told “Al Jazeera” he was horrified and hurt by the remarks, but “not shocked.”
“I want to ask Mohan Bhagwat and Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi: Is this what RSS teaches to its cadres in their schools?” he said. The RSS refers to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or the National Association of Volunteers, the ruling BJP’s far-right ideological mentor that aims to create an ethnic Hindu state in the world’s most populous country. Bhagwat heads the RSS, which boasts of millions of lifetime members in India and abroad.
He said the Opposition members of Parliament present during the debate stood up for him. “The MPs from Congress and TMC [Trinamool Congress], particularly the women MPs, spoke out,” he told “Al Jazeera.”
ABUSING MUSLIMS
THE firebrand TMC MP Mahua Moitra, who was the first legislator to share the video on X, asked BJP president JP Nadda whether the right-wing party was going to act against Bidhuri. “Abusing Muslims, OBCs, is an integral part of BJP’s culture,” she posted on X. OBCs refer to the constitutionally recognised “other backward castes” who have been historically marginalised by the privileged castes in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi “has reduced Indian Muslims to living in such a state of fear in their own land that they grin and bear everything,” she alleged. Even Omar Abdullah, a politician from Indian-administered Kashmir, said hate against Muslims in India “has been mainstreamed like never before.”
“How easily expletives roll off the tongue of this hateful [honourable] MP!” he posted on X. “How do Muslims who identify the BJP as their party coexist alongside this level of abject hatred?”
GOA MORE CIVILIZED!
BUT what has all this got to do with Goa and Goans? Our MLAs are much more civilized than their counterparts in the northern states and in Parliament because we have never had any anti-Muslim incidents in our legislative assembly unlike Parliament. As the Christian population in this tiny state hovers around 25 per cent, there have never been insults hurled at the Catholic population in this state.
The Constitution of India states that a State Legislative Assembly must not have less than 60 MLAs and not more than 500 MLAs but an exception may be granted via an Act of Parliament for the small states of Goa, Sikkim, Mizoram and the Union Territory of Puducherry which all have fewer than 60 MLAs.
And with fewer MLAs, chances of communal polarization is less because most MLAs in these states behave decorously despite controversies breaking out now-and-then in these tiny states. This was why the Goa Legislative Assembly passed The Goa Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of the Legislative Assembly (Amendment) Bill 2023, while two MLAs walked out in protest.
As Minister for Law, Judiciary and Legislative Affairs Nilesh Cabral moved the bill, Congress MLA Altone D’Costa objected to it and demanded the funds should be used for public welfare. He pointed out that MLAs were not informed 36 hours prior to introduction of the bill which was against the rules.
“The State has a debt of Rs28,000 crore. There is no need for an increment. Perks of panchayat members and sarpanchas are not being enhanced but the government is increasing perks of MLAs. Why increase the perks of MLAs? Give it to the cause of social welfare. Give it to the Laadli Laxmi scheme,” he said.
PAMPERED MLAS
CHIEF MINISTER Pramod Sawant told the legislative assembly that the salary and allowances of MLAs were revised after 10 years. He said only petrol quota, medical bills, vehicle loan limit with rate of interest and housing loan with rate of interest have been increased. Also, two additional staff have been sanctioned, Sawant said. This on closer look pretty much amounts to everything.
What we have to understand is that our legislative assembly does not have a Muslim MLA unlike Parliament and the northern states where the Muslims get some representation even if this is inadequate.
We have to commend Opposition leader Yuri Alemao and Congress MLA Altone D’Costa for opposing the bill to enhance the pension and other allowances of these MLAs. While the government keeps incurring debts, these MLAs gift themselves huge hikes in salaries and pensions while other equally deserving sectors like the police and teachers have been struggling for decades without much of a hike.
Nilesh Cabral said those who do not require increased allowances are free to refuse them. “MLAs pay rate of interest on car loans or housing loans. If any MLA does not avail the allowances, they are free to do so,” he said.
Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar claimed that he had not used medical bills in spite of undergoing a major surgery nor had he obtained a housing loan. “We need to understand that all MLAs are not landlords,” he said.
