00:00I'd like to move across and shift to Mr. Sujit Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP, Bharatiya Janata Party.
00:06Mr. Kumar, was it and is it a tad bit unnerving when you see the kind of crowds today on
00:13the streets of the national capital,
00:15not in support of a pressure group, but possibly in support of the India Alliance?
00:21No, not at all. First of all, parties should learn how to protest from BJP.
00:30You have a Congress MP, a sexual predator who is accused of sexual misconduct by not one, not two by
00:3611 girl students.
00:37And BJP of course protested in a dignified manner without causing any disruption to public life,
00:42without any vandalism or damage to public property, or without causing any discomfort to the citizens
00:49enabling their basic services.
00:50Contrast that with the behaviour of the opposition parties, misleading the people.
00:55You know, Article 324 of the Constitution empowers them to bring a resolution in the Parliament for removal of the
01:03CEC.
01:03Instead of doing that, look at their behaviour.
01:06First, look at the theatrics.
01:08First, they go to the President of India.
01:10Well, it's their constitutional right.
01:11They can meet the Honourable President of India.
01:14When Madam President asks them for...
01:18In support of their claims and charges, they had none.
01:21Until today, they have not submitted any evidence.
01:24Secondly, you know, they requested a meeting with the CGI when the matter is already sub-judice.
01:29Have the Congress...
01:31Have Rahul Gandhi and Mr. Kharge and other opposition party MPs forgotten the basic structure of the Constitution,
01:37separation of power, independence of judiciary are part of the basic structure.
01:40And when the matter is sub-judice, you know, how can you request a meeting with the CGI?
01:46You know, and then you lead a mob to march to the Supreme Court of India.
01:50Who leads a mob to submit a petition to the Supreme Court?
01:54Is this some kind of circus or theatrics going on?
01:56So, you know, I think I'm actually ashamed at this kind of behaviour of the opposition parties.
02:03They have taken the city to ransom.
02:05They have resorted to chaos, vandalism and, you know, every sort of theatrics.
02:12Well, no one is disputing or denying them the right to protest.
02:15Article 19.1, 19.2 allows them to do so.
02:1919.1 A, B allows them to do so.
02:21But 19.2 and 19.3 comes with reasonable restrictions.
02:24They cannot, you know, distort public order.
02:27They cannot do all of this theatrics, drama and all this vandalism at the cost of this sovereignty and security
02:35of the nation.
02:35So, honestly, I'm not at all worried about their behaviour.
02:38But I feel sorry and ashamed at the way the opposition parties are behaving.
02:48But, you know, Mr. Kumar, you speak of the ethics of protest, but where a democracy is concerned, there needs
02:55to be space that is given to protest and journalists should also be allowed to cover that protest.
03:01What we saw in the last 48 hours, Mr. Kumar, wasn't a testimony to a vibrant democracy, where not just
03:09journalists, of course, journalists were detained, but the strongest hand of the police force came in to try and restrict
03:17the youth of this country from protesting.
03:20You yourself have seen so many visuals of brute force being used, where from a clampdown, the crackdown was so
03:29intense by the authorities that many people are still injured from the last two days.
03:35Many are calling it a police state, an emergency.
03:39Ma'am, it's the duty, rather it's the mandate of the police to safeguard public property, to restore law and
03:45order, to maintain public order and to abjure violence.
03:48Now, you have, I do concede that, you know, there have been, you know, journalists and some protesters who have
03:58faced difficulties, but the protest has been hijacked, has been infiltrated by anti-social elements and cops have been harassed,
04:07lady cops have been sexually harassed, lady cops have been, you know, targeted, ma'am, you have seen those visuals
04:12as well.
04:12And let's not forget that the right to protest should be balanced with the right to have, you know, a
04:19dignified life or to live peacefully in one's own city.
04:24Both the rights need to be balanced.
04:26So, Article 19 should be balanced with Article 21.
04:28In fact, the Supreme Court has also said so in many judgments, signed by judgment and MKSS judgments.
04:34So, I do concede that, you know, there should not be excesses, police excesses, but it is the duty, it
04:40is the duty of the police to maintain law and order.
04:42And when you have protesters hell-bent on creating ruckus, creating vandalism, damaging public property and attacking police personnel, what
04:49do the police do?
04:51They have to maintain order and control the, you know, the protesters, many of whom had come with very violent
04:58intent.
05:04Mr. Kumar, what we saw on ground yesterday was abysmal.
05:07The top court of the country has also stepped in where a contempt of court notice has gone down to
05:12the Home Secretary and even the Police Commissioner of Delhi.
05:16So, this has come in from the court, sir.
05:18And, you know, we ourselves are eyewitness to journalists being picked up, eyewitness, even though, you know, there is BNS
05:27163 at play.
05:29But having said that, a lone person walking on the streets was also picked up.
05:34Having said that, we didn't see that kind of heavy hand of the police today and the authorities today.
05:41I want to ask you one quick question, sir, before I let you go.
05:44The Congress says that your party is resorting to the same old tactics of saying foreign hand,
05:49because in today's press conference, not once but twice over, you have said that there is foreign hand in it.
05:59Ma'am, if you look at the pattern, if you look at the way things have unfolded over the last
06:05couple of months,
06:06there is a reasonable doubt in the mind of every citizen of India that, yes, there are some external forces
06:11who are aiding and abetting this kind of anti-national forces.
06:15Now, it is for the government to find out who these forces are.
06:18But the way things are getting played out, you know, again, I would repeat that no one is disputing.
06:26No one, certainly not BJP, is disputing the right of the protesters to dissent and to protest.
06:31But the way they have been, you know, foreign citizens have now started joining the protest.
06:37People who have criminal antecedents, they have joined the protest.
06:41The money that is being, you know, seen, that is seen in aiding these protesters, that again needs to be
06:49investigated.
06:49So, I do agree that, you know, protest is a part of fundamental right and, in fact, a duty of
06:55every citizen.
06:56But when you have anti-national, anti-social forces hell-bent on creating ruckus and hell-bent on, you know,
07:04creating anarchy,
07:05then there is a reasonable doubt in the mind of every citizen that, yes, this must be in collusion with
07:11some foreign forces.
07:12And this is for the intelligence agencies to find out.
07:20Mr. Kumar, the jury is still out on reasonable doubt there, where the citizens of this country is concerned.
07:25But thank you, sir, for taking the time out and taking our questions this evening.
