‘Extra-Constitutional bodies deciding patriotism’

Extra-constitutional bodies are deciding who is a patriot and who is an anti-national in the country today, former Congress minister Priyank Kharge said in the Legislative Assembly on Friday.

“Anyone who questions the government is branded as an anti-national these days. There have been 154 reported cases of internet shutdowns between January 2016 and May 2018. Journalists are getting arrested for speaking truth. Even in the Karnataka Assembly, there is media blackout. Is this democracy?” Kharge said during a special debate on the Constitution. Some organisations were imposing their perspective on the entire nation and there is a threat to freedom of speech, he added.

Commenting on the chief minister’s speech on Constitution earlier this week, Kharge said: “I appreciate the chief minister for saying that none can change the fundamental values of the Constitution. However, why are we even in a position where we need to save the Constitution?”

A section of the leaders was justifying in Parliament that Godse was a patriot, he further said, adding, “If Godse was a patriot, what does that make Mahatma Gandhi? Then why do we have his photo in the Vidhana Soudha?”