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"Dissent is all the more important" with her kickass speech in the Lok Sabha young TMC MP Mohua Moitra attacked the Narendra Modi-led government and showed the 7 signs of fascism in the country today.
“Dissent is all the more important” with her kickass speech in the Lok Sabha, young TMC MP Mohua Moitra attacked the Modi-led government, pointing out the 7 signs of Fascism in the country today.
Trinamool Congress MP Mohua Moitra smashed the existing Narendra Modi led government in her maiden speech yesterday.
The first time MP from Krishnanagar roared like a lioness in Parliament, and became the voice of dissent. She stated the 7 signs of Fascism running in the country’s regime. There was a lot of interruption during her speech, but she didn’t stop and fearlessly kept on raising her voice for the right.
Kicking off her speech by categorically saying that she “humbly accepted the mandate” in favour of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, she added “dissent is all the more important” today. She pointed out that “It is the very nature of the overwhelmingness of this mandate, of the totality of this mandate, that makes it necessary for us to be heard today, for the voice of dissent to be heard today”
https://youtu.be/dnh-mpg_oF4
“You may say that ache din are here and that the sun will never set on the Indian Empire that it is seeking to build. But then you are missing the signs. Only if you open your eyes, you will see there are signs everywhere.”
There is no denial of the fact that there are many things currently happening in the country that display Fascism. She spoke about issues like dissent, religious freedom, and media control. She said that the Constitution, which each member of the House has “sworn to protect”, is “under threat today”. Stating incidents that are currently happening in the country, she showed how the 7 signs of Fascism are visible in the country today.
“There is a powerful and continuing nationalism which is searing into our national fabric. It is superficial, it is xenophobic, and it is narrow. It has a lust to divide. It is not a desire to unite.”
She mentioned how in the country the anti-immigration laws like the NRC and Citizenship Bill advocated by the Modi government are being used to throw out people who have lived in the country for years.
“Citizens are being thrown out of their homes and are being called illegal immigrants. People who have lived in this country for 50 years have to show a piece of paper to prove they are Indians. In a country where ministers cannot produce degrees to show that they graduated from college, you expect disposed poor people to show papers as proof that they belong to the country? Slogans and symbols are being used to test religion. There is no one slogan, no one symbol that ensures that any Indian is a patriot. There is no one test, Sir. No one test.”
“The lynching of citizens in broad daylight is being condoned.”
There is no denying the fact that the rate of hate crime has increased in the country.
In regards to this Moitra said, “There has been a ten-fold increase in the number of hate crimes between 2014 and 2019. The lynching of citizens in broad daylight is being condoned. From Pehlu Khan in Rajasthan last year to Mr Ansari in Jharkhand yesterday, the list is not stopping.”
“There is an unimaginable subjugation and controlling of mass media today.”
One of the biggest assets of democracy is freedom of speech. Moitra in her speech mentioned how this fundamental right is being taken away slowly in the form of controlling media.
Taking a jibe at Modi she commented that “five of the largest news media organisations are indirectly controlled or indirectly indebted to one man in this country.” She pointed out how the news channels have become a way to spread the “propaganda of the ruling party.”
“Let the government come out with facts and figures to show ad-spend per media house. What are they spending the money on and which media houses are they blocking out? The Information and Broadcasting Ministry employs over 120 people solely to check the content on TV channels every day to make sure that there is no anti-government news being put out.” she said.
“It is as though all of us in this country are today in fear a of nameless, shameless Kala bhoot.”
Referring to the practice of parents scaring their children with the idea of a Kala bhoot (black ghost) to keep them in discipline, Mahua Moitra said that “It is as though all of us in this country are today in fear of a nameless, shameless Kala bhoot.”
She mentioned how the achievements of the army were being “usurped in the name of one man”. She added that “The irony is that terrorist attacks have increased manifold. There is a 106% increase in the death of jawans in Kashmir.”
“Yeh sirf 2.77 acre janmabhhoomi ka mudda nahi hain. Yeh sara desh, 80 crore acres, ko akhand rakhne ka prashna hai.”
This is the most evident sign out there. Religion and one propaganda have been used a lot in the recent Lok Sabha elections to gain political power. Leaders have openly given statements to apparently make India fit for only “one religion”. The ex-President of BJP and current Home Minister Amit Shah during his election campaigns said that “We will ensure implementation of NRC in the entire country. We will remove every single infiltrator from the country, except Buddha, Hindus and Sikhs.” Now what more proof do we need?
Moitra stated this very fact out by saying that “Members of the Parliament are concerned mostly with 2.77 acres of Ram Janmabhoomi while (they seem to be unconcerned) by the 80 crore acres that makes India.”
“The sixth sign is most dangerous there is a complete disdain of intellectuals and art….everything we are doing is pushing India back to dark ages.”
Moitra in her sixth point said that “A complete disdain for intellectuals and the arts is happening. There is so much suppression of dissent. Funding is being cut for liberal education. Article 51 of the Constitution demands a scientific temperament. But everything we are doing is pushing India back to dark ages. Secondary school textbooks are being manipulated and distorted in order to indoctrinate. You don’t even tolerate questioning, let alone dissent.”
“Rs 60,000 crores were spent during the Indian elections (this time) – 50% (of this amount) or Rs 27,000 crores by one party.”
Moitra didn’t question the mandate, but said that the Election Commission of India was being used to ‘transfer key officials’. She questioned this and the usage of money in the elections.
“I have a right to disagree,” she ended her speech with this statement and speech by saying that in 2017, a poster available in the Holocaust Memorial in the US featured all these “early warning signs of Fascism“ that she just stated.
Moitra is legislator from Krishnanagar in West Bengal. She defeated BJP’s Kalyan Chaubey by more than 63,000 votes in the recent general election. She won her first election in 2016 and since then she has been an inspiration. She boldly stood up against the sexist and offensive remarks by BJP’s Naida districts president Mahadev Sarkar.
Not just this she even lead a legal war against Modi government’s surveillance efforts by filing three petitions in the SC against it. Her petitions are against the laws that aim to break into our computers. Moitra through her continuous efforts has always stood up against injustice.
Also, this is not the first time she was completely savage. In 2015 she showed a middle finger to Arnab Goswami and said “Arnab, keep talking,” she said. “This is a one-man show…” because Arnab Goswami was supposedly not letting her speak. (Although we don’t support this kind of behaviour by someone holding power towards a media professional but still pretty badass!!)
With her maiden speech, she has listed out the 7 signs that show how democracy is being demolished. She has delivered one the most powerful speeches in recent parliamentary history and we are inspired by it!
Image source: YouTube
I read, I write, I dream and search for the silver lining in my life. Being a student of mass communication with literature and political science I love writing about things that bother me. Follow read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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