Speech in the Lok Sabha on the President’s address (New Delhi, January 1976) SOMNATH CHATTERJEE (1929–)

Speech in the Lok Sabha on the President’s address
(New Delhi, January 1976) SOMNATH CHATTERJEE (1929–)

is was an extraordinarily courageous speech since it was made when the
Emergency was at its height. Chatterjee could not have been unaware of the
risk he was running by attacking the Emergency and upholding democracy.
It was a time when many of his colleagues and comrades were behind bars
or were underground. is speech when it was made, did not receive the
publicity it deserved as the press was then muzzled by censorship.

MAIN SPEECH

Mr Chairman, Sir, starting from the address of the President to the speech
which we have heard just now, an attempt has been made to justify the
Emergency on the basis of vague generalizations and mere abuses and
vilification of Opposition parties without specifying the supposed
treasonable activities on the part of the Opposition parties. I am very sorry
that having been swayed by emotions and probably encouraged by the
presence of the Prime Minister, a sober and responsible minister as we
thought him to be, Mr Chandrajeet Yadav himself chose to use this
occasion to vilify the CPI(M) on a wrong and misleading basis because,
realizing that they cannot justify the Emergency on any positive ground, the
best thing is to go on beating the opposition with whatever stick comes
handy. at is why it was said that there has been a sort of ganging up
between the right reactionaries and the CPI(M). Sir, it is known that this is
wrong and that this is an absolute calumny. Only on a very important issue
like civil liberty, there had been cooperation and we, Sir, certainly support
anybody who raises a voice of protest against the deliberate denuding of
personal and civil liberties in the country by a repressive government.
Wh ll d h ll l k h
Whoever will come and support us, we shall certainly seek their support
and given mutual support.
Now, Sir, as Miss Patel rightly said when BLD people join Congress, they
become progressives overnight. When ex-rulers and ex-zamindars joined
you, joined the ruling party, they certainly become progressives. When
Swatantries and when Jana Sanghis join the Congress they became
progressive. Do not apply such double standards everywhere. is is my
request.
You have declared Emergency. e people of the country known why. You
declare Emergency on the plea of internal disturbances, when there was
already an Emergency. Because of the powers under the Constitution of
India, which you wanted to exercise or which you did not want to take the
trouble of having obligations under, you could do it under the existing
Emergency of 1971. All the powers, the Defence of India Rules and so on,
have not been promulgated now. ey were actually promulgated in 1971
and this is now being used under the new Emergency. Not a single extraconstitutional
power was obtained by proclaiming this new Emergency.
en, what was the Emergency for? Was it for economic reasons? en,
there is a specific provision under the Constitution, Article 360, for
declaring a financial emergency. You did not take recourse to that. When
there was rampant inflation, when the whole economy was out of gear, as
Dr Rao has said, as he has reminded us, when the Government of India was
not functioning so far as the finances of the country were concerned, you
did not take recourse to financial emergency. And what emergency powers
for internal disturbance are necessary to meet an economic situation? Sir,
‘internal disturbance’ has been used as a plea because the position of a
particular individual became at stake. is is the reality. It should be
understood. I am sure members opposite realize it in their own heart of
hearts. But they cannot say so. e press in this country has been gagged.
e Opposition has been mercilessly gagged. eir own people have been
gagged. Today the whole intention has been to create a fear psychosis in the
country to bring about a feeling of terror in the minds of the people. People
are not allowed to open their lips. is is a stark reality in this country. No
good denying it. If you deny it, you are denying it for the purpose of record
only, not in your own heart of hearts.
Wh I k h h P M d h h
What I was asking the government, the Prime Minister and others was this:
What extraordinary powers did you need for which a second proclamation
was made? Now, if there was internal disturbance alone, why have you
brought out so many other justifications for this Emergency? How can you
take the pretext of late running of trains for internal disturbance? is party
has been in power since independence in this country. If the trains had not
been run in time, it is very easy to go on blaming the workers. Why have
you not been able to inculcate a sense of discipline among the workers?
Why have you not been able to make them feel part and parcel of this
country, make them feel that they are one with the administration? Why are
they alienated from you? Why are the common people alienated from you?
You have no answer. You never ask yourselves those questions. For
everything that is not happening properly in this country, an emasculated
Opposition is supposed to be responsible. You ridicule the Opposition and
say ‘the people are not with you’, but you hold that very emasculated and
miniscule Opposition supposedly responsible for the ruination of this
country. You have been in uninterrupted charge of the government of the
country. You have not delivered the goods to the people. Poverty has been
accentuated. People’s miseries have increased a hundredfold, and you say
you are not responsible for that.
is is why I say that your right to govern this country now is based on
repressive power. You cannot function without draconian laws. You cannot
function under ordinary laws of the country. e Constitution of India
which twenty-five years ago had been commended to the country by no less
a person than Jawaharlal Nehru, the Constitution does not suit you, because
it gives some powers even now to the people of the country. You do not like
the people of this country to have any power. You do not want that the
people of this country can raise a voice of protest. at is why you have
come up with proposals, those obnoxious proposals, the source of which has
not been denied.
As I was saying, if discipline was the reason, then a false reason has been
given in the proclamation of Emergency that internal disturbances were
there, which threatened the security of the country. If Mr Jayaprakash
Narayan had been guilty of treason, try him for treason. Give him
exemplary punishment under the laws of the land. If Morarji Desai, or for
that matter any person, has been guilty of sedition try him. Give him an
opportunity. Let the people of the country know. Mr Jayaprakash Narayan
h b d H h I h f fi h f
has been arrested. He is a right reactionary. In the name of fighting fascism
and right reaction, you have arrested MPs like Mr Jyotirmoy Bosu and Mr
Noorul Huda. Do they belong to right reactionary parties? You have
arrested trade union workers. You have dismissed trade unionists,
government servants, under MISA. You have detained them. You have
dismissed them under Article 311 (2) without even letting them know what
is their fault. Even the present Constitution, as it stands today, gives
enormous powers to the government. A government servant can lose his job
in a minute. A person can be kept in detention indefinitely. Even his right
to move the court is extremely limited. What have you done? You are afraid
to face the people. e Supreme Court of India has given clearance to the
Prime Minister’s election. One of the judges who upheld her election had
made an observation. I do not know whether she has had the time to go
through the judgment which has been delivered in her own case. Mr Justice
Chandrachud has observed that law should not be what the King Emperor
thinks is law; it should be decided in the anvil of constitutionality; it should
be tested on the principle whether it is for public good. … Today an
attempt is being made to stifle popular and democratic movements, and
stifle the ventilation of the people’s grievances. If I say something here
which is not to your liking, the people outside will not know; they do not
know that there is another version possible on a particular issue. People may
think: we have sent him to Parliament; we want to know whether our
representative toes the line of the government or he has some alternative
proposals to make. But now people will not know. Look at today’s papers
and see how Mr Samar Mukherjee’s speech has been reported. It is a
travesty of reporting parliamentary proceedings. Is this the way you are
going to take the country along the path of progress?
Mr Chairman, I want to make this appeal to the members opposite through
you: do not feel that patriotism is your monopoly; or the desire to do good
to the country is only your monopoly. We are as much anxious that this
country should be governed and governed properly; we want that this
country should proceed on right lines; if my line is a little different does it
mean that I do not have patriotism? If I do not want the zamindars, the
landed gentry and the black-marketeers to control our country, does it mean
that I am not patriotic? If I want to say something which the people of the
country want me to say, should I not be allowed to say it? If a judge delivers
a judgment which you do not like, you say that the judge is wrong and
h f k h ’ Wh
therefore you want to take away the court’s powers. Why are you so
arrogant? You do not want anybody to judge your action. Why should not
the judges decide whether you do something rightly or wrongly? It is a
system which has worked for so many years. Take the last amendment of
the Constitution which this Parliament adopted. We were willing parties to
it. We had been demanding that the Constitution should be so amended
that no vested interests can take advantage. We have enlarged the powers
under Article 31 of the Constitution; we have given enormous powers to
the government. But how has this government utilized those powers? What
legislation has stood in their way? How have the courts stood in their
way?…We on this side have extended our support even to a capitalist and
reactionary government as this when they thought of welfare legislation.
Whether they were implementing that or not, we had extended them full
support. Let them give one example of one single welfare legislation which
had been held up by us in Parliament? I challenge them. On the other
hand, in the name of bringing about a balanced society, egalitarian society,
and welfare and socialism in this country, they have reduced the quantum of
bonus without reducing the cost of living. ey have taken away the rights
of the workers even to hold meetings and demonstrations. ey have not
even the right to go to their managers to ventilate their grievances. ere is
a case in regard to the Bank of India, I am not going into merits because the
matter is subjudice. It is a nationalized bank and I want to tell the members
what happens there. e authorities there issued a circular deducting the
salaries of the employees, because their representatives had gone to a
meeting with the manager for ventilating employees’ grievances who even
entertained them. But after the meeting, the manager issues a notice to
them; you did not work during the time you came to see me and therefore
you are not entitled to wages for that period.
Is this the way of getting the willing cooperation of the ordinary people of
this country? Is this the way you want their participation in your so-called
nation building? Mr Chairman, Sir, the position is this. In the garb of
Emergency, what is being sought to be done is to create and maintain a
hegemony. We are opposed to that. e attempt is to create and maintain a
particular attitude of government which is not in tune with the national
aspirations of this country. You are utilizing this not for the betterment of
the people because inflation has been contained. It is said that Emergency
should remain and continue not because of inflation but because of other
d h f l h ld b h ld S h h
economic reasons and therefore elections should not be held. See how the
reason is put forward by this government. Sir, what is the position in the
economic field? What is the position in the small industries, small-scale
industries like bulb manufacturing industries? Mr Maurya is here. He has
got the statistics fully. e small-scale industries are almost closed down.
e wagon-building industries in West Bengal are completely at a standstill.
J.K. Aluminium is being closed. Hindustan Motors has introduced a
rotational system of layoffs of employees.
Now, who is coming to their protection? Are you using Emergency powers
against the management of Hindustan Motors? You have got all the powers
under the sun. You don’t care for the people’s rights under Article 19 and
under Article 14 you have suspended them. But you have not suspended
Article 31 which guarantees property rights. You have forbidden my right
to free speech. You have taken away my right of equality to be treated
equally amongst equals. But you have not taken away the right of propertied
class. at is why Article 31 has not been touched. is is the true position
of the government.
Sir, in the jute industry, what is happening? Concession after concession has
been made but layoffs and closure are continuing. More layoffs and more
closure and more retrenchments are continuing. In the jute mills, even the
jute growers are not getting concessions. Concessions have been given to
the jute mills but jute growers are not getting even the support price. Same
is the thing with regard to the textile mills. In those mills which have been
taken over the Textile Corporation, the workers are extending all support,
not a single complaint has been made against workers. ey are doing extra
work. But they are in doldrums because the management is still as bold as it
was. No attempt has been made to have the stocks cleared. e retailers
cannot even taken them, far less the consumers because of high cost of
textile goods.
Sir, this is the position in this country and we are only told that something
was being done for which Emergency must be imposed. erefore, I request
my friends, through you Sir, do not take the people of this country for a
ride. Try to do something good for them. If the people are with you, why
are you afraid of them?