Rahul writes to Speaker to protest 'silencing' on national security issue

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, registering a strong protest against being denied the opportunity to speak in the House on what he described as a matter of national security, and calling the episode a “blot” on India’s democracy.

In his letter, Gandhi recalled that while speaking on the motion of thanks to the President’s address on Monday, 2 January, the speaker had directed him to authenticate a magazine article he proposed to cite while raising the issue of the India–China conflict of 2020.

Gandhi said under long-established parliamentary convention — backed by repeated rulings of previous Speakers — a member seeking to refer to a document in the House must authenticate it and accept responsibility for its contents, a requirement he said he had fully complied with.

Once such authentication is made, he wrote, the speaker ordinarily permits the member to quote or refer to the document, after which it is for the government to respond, and the chair’s role stands concluded.

“Preventing me from speaking in the Lok Sabha today not only violates this convention, but also gives rise to a serious concern that there is a deliberate attempt to prevent me, in my capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, from speaking on matters of national security.

“It is worth repeating that national security was a key part of the President’s Address, which requires a discussion in Parliament,” Gandhi said in his letter.

He reminded the speaker that, as an impartial custodian of the House, it is the speaker’s constitutional and parliamentary duty to protect the rights of all members, including those on the Opposition benches. The right of the Leader of the Opposition — and of every member of Parliament — to speak, he added, is fundamental to the functioning of a democracy.

“The refusal of these basic democratic rights has led to an unprecedented situation. For the first time in Parliamentary history, on the behest of the government, the Speaker has been forced to prevent the Leader of the Opposition from speaking on the President’s Address,” Gandhi wrote.

“This is a blot on our democracy, against which I record my strongest protest,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi authenticated in the Lok Sabha a copy of an article citing the unpublished ‘memoirs’ of former Indian Army chief M.M. Naravane, but the move failed to break the deadlock, leading to a brief adjournment.

As Gandhi continued to press for a discussion on the issue, chair Krishna Prasad Tenneti proceeded with the list of speakers and invited Harish Balayogi of the Telugu Desam Party, an NDA ally, to address the House after three Opposition MPs declined to speak in solidarity with Gandhi.

With PTI inputs