Parliament is in session and the people’s focus should be on the issues that matter regarding the nation’s development. What the President said regarding future plans, as she speaks on behalf of her government. The priorities laid down by the Prime Minister and the ways to achieve them. The approach of the Leader of the Opposition in cooperating with the positive agendas, while ensuring the people’s interests are not overlooked. The media needs to examine and analyse these declarations and present the essence to those who have not the time or inclination to follow what happens in Parliament.
Mostly, however, there is some superficial and petty matter that takes up the entire discourse. For example, some or the other MP will indulge in attention-seeking behaviour, ostensibly to promote an ideology or make a point. The subject should be provocative enough to provide day long material for news channel discussions. Any intelligent analysis would bury the issue within minutes, so the panel deliberately comprises advocates of extreme positions. The public is left with acrimonious content and very little clarity.
Take, for instance, the demand raised by an SP Lok Sabha MP that the Sengol installed in Parliament be removed as it is a symbol of monarchism and not of the Constitution. Any understanding of history would make it clear that it is a symbol of sovereign authority. It was with the kings in the past but has now been transferred to the present- day authority, the Parliament. It constituted the blessing of the sages and seers as a reminder of righteous effort. Such maces exist in other parliaments around the world and have interesting histories related to them.
The truth, of course, is that such tactics are being used in today’s world to attract attention for particular causes, just as climate activists and suchlike are creating nuisance in museums and other public places. In the case of the anti-Sengol SP MP, it is most likely an attempt to present his socialist and secular credentials. Since the Sengol was presented by Hindu seers, opposing it gains brownie points with ‘minority’ supporters of the Samajwadi Party. Did he pause to consider why PM Modi retrieved the Sengol from the museum it was consigned to and brought it to its present location? It was a political statement, but it was also bait. And the SP MP took it. In the meanwhile, the business of government continued regardless of the opposition’s much touted numbers.
