. I do not want to elaborate on the climate of intolerance which has now emerged in the country. The kind of incidents that have occurred in the past few months in the country have been described by some as isolated, I reject that. There were price rise and other various issues before the house, but why did we take up this issue? That these incidents are not isolated is being recognised by this house as also your chair. The way this matter was being discussed, in fact it is not like that, but much more serious. The word ‘intolerance’ is not enough to describe it. There is a lack of tolerance in the country, in fact tyranny of the majoritarianism is giving rise to an explosive situation in this country. That’s the reason why this is not just a topic for political debate but also resonates in social, educational, cultural and scientific spheres.

People have devoted their heart and soul to build this nation including those in the business sector, have tried to express their views in this situation of crisis. Today intolerance is more prominent. Democracy is all about debate, discussion and dissent. If there are some views, some actions we are not in agreement with, that is our right in a democracy. The honourable minister says that it’s a ‘manufactured dissent’. Manufactured dissent? Who are you trying to insult? Shri Rao Bharat, Shri Bhargav, Shri Narayana Murthy, one after another the list is growing. All these didn’t happen in a day. What are we saying? Attempts were made to cast aspersions against us. You are insulting the nation... Our tradition, culture and heritage, our civilisation teach tolerance... Now somewhere there is a departure. We are turning away and doing so rapidly. There have been attempts from all directions to give signals... We just now had discussions about the Constitution on the 125^th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar. I don’t want to go over that again. Our Constitution is not for being paraded atop an elephant. It is for showing us the direction in which to proceed. Our Constitution gives every citizen the right to freedom of speech. This is not a fascist country. This is a democracy. We heard several speeches during discussion on the Constitution. Very wise people contributed to the framing of constitution but they didn’t write a book on the constituent assembly. But wrote about the foundations of our civilisation... We got a constitution after 200 years of freedom struggle... Some people are saying has this not happened before? Didn’t it happen in 1984, in 1977? There is a fable where a wolf is telling a goat that you are spoiling the water (jhootha kar rahe ho). After that he said if not you, your grandfathers did it. What about your grandfathers?

(L K) Advani-ji is here. Sudheendra Kulkarni, I’m taking his name because he was once a member of BJP’s national executive. There are several such names. They are not members of the House. These people have given warning from within. I’m talking about warnings. But it’s unfortunate that he who tweets on every topic, he who is a great orator, whom the people with great hope elected as the leader of the country and not just of the government, it was expected that he would take the country to a position of respect in the world. Development will be the first agenda, everybody will be taken along. You will recall when in Pune the technologist Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh was killed people waited for a tweet. When tweets are posted on birthdays, on suits and kurtas, then at least on this issue too there should have been one. Well, these are not one or two incidents. The Dadri incident happened. Before that (M M) Kalburgi assassination. (Govind) Pansare’s killing. Even before that (Narendra) Dabholkar was gunned down. Why are we having this discussion. We want a rational India. We want a secular India. This will not be done in a day. A civilisation is not built in a Day. Governments come and go. We are all temporary... When the NDA was in power earlier and we used to talk about hidden agenda, people used to ask what is hidden agenda? No more this is a hidden agenda, everything is out in the open, everything can be seen. From the government, we demanded transparency, return of black money and end to corruption. Where have fringe elements gone? First they called stray elements, then they said fringe elements. Who are these fringe elements? Member of this House, members of the Council of Ministrs? Dalit children are killed, there will be investigation. But the question is in which culture, when the question of a Muslim or a Dalit arises the analogy of a puppy is made? This is against humanity, this is not a matter of religion. A hint is enough to those who can understand... We also have to tolerate and suffer such ministers... The question is how to bring the marginalised, the poor, the Dalit, the tribal, the backward, and the disabled to the mainstream. After independence, this is the biggest concern.

Our Constitution directs us that we bring these sections to the mainstream. From where have these fringe elements come? These are not fringe elements. They represent a hub-and-spoke concept. The way it happens in a business proposition, similarly it’s happening in a political project. The hub is silent while the spoke is spinning. What is the message being sent out to the nation? Rabindranath Tagore is frequently mentioned in this House, I come from Bengal: Onnai j kore r onnai j sohe/ tobo ghrina tare jeno trino somo dohe. Those who do injustice and those who tolerate it, both are equally guilty... Be it any writer or poet, they are returning their awards and live achievements, and on social media, in newspapers and at press conferences we are castigating them... This has happened in the era of kings and monarchs when there was no democracy. Not everybody is a jester or sycophant.

You can hear the call of Times Square but u can’t hear the cry from within India as to what is happening here, what are the current affairs. It is important to hear this. For this there is no need to put your ear to the ground, only with your outgoing call also watch out for incoming calls as to what calls are coming. If the communication is one-way then there would be trouble. I feel that there is ‘mann ki baat’, dhan (wealth) ki baat, tan (bodi) ki baat, but what the country’s heart is saying is not coming out... For that we needed the Bihar election outcome... But is that what we gathered here to debate? That was not the question. The question how did the prices of dal touched Rs 200 per kilo. Why did onions become Rs 70-80 per kilo. Because a businessman is closer to the power centre, would he hoard dal and raise its value to make crores in profit? The question is not what is cooking in which household... whether it is goat or cow...the responsibility of the government, politics, political parties, cultural organisation is not to find out whether fish is being cooked or not, whether we are cooking rohu fish or hilsa, the question is who is not able to cook, who does not have enough food? The government and the political parties should look into these. We are diverting from the issue. The question was of food security so that the poor get two square meals, the unemployed get jobs, inflation is reduced, malnourishment decreases, malnourished children get nutritious food. Instead of this, Akhlaq Ahmed was killed, made a sacrificial lamb... We should be ashamed that his son is in the Indian Air Force. Despite that, I have seen in the media, some people are saying what can be done, some say go this side while others say go that side, but Sartaj (Akhlaq’s son) say "sare jahan se achha, Hindustan hamara" (Better than the entire world, is our Hindustan). That's the spirit of India. This does not chage with the results of one election. This does not change by words of a government. This is century-old.

(Soon after this Salim’s remarks involving Home Minister Rajnath Singh led to disruptions in House and its adjournment. Salim delivered rest of his speech after two adjournments. The second part of his speech will be carried next week.)