New Delhi: Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal launched a sharp counterattack on Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday after the latter circulated a 2011 video of the senior advocate discussing protest rights during the India Against Corruption agitation against the then Congress-led UPA dispensation. Sibal insisted that the UPA had neither prevented citizens from protesting nor resorted to pellet guns or lathi-charges against agitators.
Rijiju had posted the archival footage on Thursday. In it, Sibal told reporters during the anti-corruption movement: “Right to protest is not the right to protest at the place of your choice.”
Rijiju branded Sibal a “Dimagi Naxal,” claiming the lawyer had laid bare the Congress’s “secrets” and torn into Rahul Gandhi.
“Kapil Sibal is a ‘Dimagi Naxal’, but he’s very skilled at exposing the Congress Party’s secrets! He’s thoroughly torn Rahul Gandhi to shreds. Now, Congress Party & Cockroaches will listen to the advice of their Legal Guru,” Rijiju wrote.
‘Question Him On Laws’
In a follow-up post on Friday, the Union minister urged journalists to ask Sibal whether rules governing demonstrations had been altered after 2014, or whether he had drafted a distinct Constitution for himself and his party.
Answering reporters, Sibal dismissed Rijiju’s attack, questioning his familiarity with legal practice and alleging that the minister criticised people without grasping basic facts, as reported by The New Indian Express.
“I wish I could have seen him somewhere in court — in my 50-odd years at the courts, at least I have not seen him in the corridors of the court,” Sibal said.
UPA’s Record Defended
Rejecting the suggestion that the previous UPA regime had stifled demonstrations, Sibal asked whether it had ever deployed lathi-charges or pellet guns on protesters.
“We never ensured that people don’t protest. In fact, on one occasion in a Cabinet meeting this issue was discussed, and my colleagues said, ‘Look, this is a right under the Constitution, you cannot interfere with this right, this is a constitutional right,” Sibal said.
He argued that public protest had been central to India’s freedom struggle and could once again bring about a different kind of independence.
Attack On Parliament Functioning
Turning to the conduct of the current government in Parliament, Sibal took a direct swipe at Rijiju’s role as Parliamentary Affairs Minister.
“As far as Parliamentary Affairs is concerned, we know how he (Rijiju) runs Parliament. That is his expertise: to ensure that the voice of the Opposition is not heard for which he should get a medal of some kind,” he said.
“They don’t allow us to raise the issues we want to raise. They don’t allow us to protest. They pass bills without a discussion. They are unconcerned with parliamentary procedures. The manner in which Parliament was functioning was unprecedented in India’s history,” Sibal added.
‘History Repeats Itself’
Sibal also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that 2014 ushered in a new chapter for India, alleging that the government portrays the country’s earlier history as unpatriotic.
“Modi ji said that real independence happened in 2014. That’s what they say: ‘Real independence of India happened in 2014. The history of India is written only after 2014; the rest of history is all anti-national, no?” he said.
According to Sibal, that chapter would be “erased” by 2029 and the dignity of Parliament would be restored. He added that if Rijiju ever found himself on the Opposition benches, the Congress would let him speak.
“Rijiju ji, please remember: history repeats itself.”