Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday extended greetings on the 76th Republic Day and alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is attacking the Constitution and weakening institutions and stifling dissent has become the sole policy of the government.He also claimed that in this country which believes in unity in diversity, there is a tendency to impose ‘one nation, one party’.
In a greeting message on Republic Day, Kharge saluted the freedom fighters and thanked the armed forces, scientists, teachers, farmers, laborers and other sections engaged in nation building. He said that today is also the time to consider how the country is witnessing continuous attacks on the Constitution. Kharge alleged that the ruling party has continuously eroded our institutions carefully built over decades and political interference in autonomous institutions has become a common practice.
“Controlling the independence of institutions is being seen as a virtue,” he claimed. Federalism is being crushed daily and the rights of opposition ruled states are being curtailed. Due to the repressive nature of the ruling government, there has been a tremendous decline in the functioning of the Parliament.
The Congress President said, “Infiltration is being seen continuously in universities and autonomous institutions. A large section of the media has been turned into a propaganda tool for the ruling party. Suffocating dissent by going after opposition leaders in retaliation has become the sole policy of those in power.
According to him, during the last decade a vicious, nefarious agenda steeped in religious fundamentalism has tried to divide the society. “Minorities are being targeted, and those who are secular are being tarnished with ‘Goebbels-style propaganda’,” Kharge claimed. Weaker sections like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, poor and minorities are being treated as second class citizens. Atrocities and unheard of violence against them have become a regular occurrence.”
He said that Manipur has been burning for 21 months, but there is no accountability at the top positions of power. According to Kharge, “Economic inequality has increased to catastrophic proportions. The country’s valuable resources are being handed over to billionaire friends. Whatever scam comes to light, an attempt is made to suppress those who expose it by terming them ‘anti-national’.
The ruling party practices pseudo-nationalism as they force our deprived youth to raise the flag of ‘nationalism’ and ‘religious supremacy’ but do nothing to provide them employment,” he alleged. We are living in a period of turmoil and every penny of the hard-earned money of the poor and the middle class has been grabbed through taxes.
The Congress President said, “The standard of living of our people has hardly increased because wrong economic policies have depleted their savings. The handful of elite people who can afford a bright future are giving up Indian citizenship.” Kharge claimed that when the failures of the central government were pointed out, those in power would either indulge in talking Or employ distraction tactics, often referring to the past, but never talking about the present.
According to him, there is a tendency to impose ‘one nation, one party’ on 140 crore people who believe in ‘unity in diversity’. The Congress president alleged that every sacred part of the Constitution is being torn into pieces by an authoritarian regime. “Now is the time to preserve and protect the ideas and ideals of our Constitution – justice, liberty, equality and fraternity,” he said. We uphold the values adopted by the founding fathers of our nation. Be ready to make every sacrifice to protect the Constitution. This will be a true tribute to our ancestors.