NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday hit back at Union Minister Kiren Rijiju after he shared a 2011 video of the senior advocate speaking about the right to protest, saying the Congress-led UPA government had never stopped people from protesting or used pellet guns and lathi-charge against demonstrators.
Rijiju had shared the video on Thursday. In it, Sibal was speaking at a press conference during the India Against Corruption movement against the then UPA government.
"Right to protest is not the right to protest at the place of your choice," Sibal had said.
Sharing the clip, Rijiju called Sibal a "Dimagi Naxal" and alleged that he had exposed the Congress's "secrets" and criticised 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," he said.
In another post on Friday, Rijiju asked journalists to question Sibal about whether laws governing protests had changed after 2014 or whether he had created a separate Constitution for himself and the Congress.
Responding at a press conference, Sibal questioned Rijiju's legal experience and said the Union minister criticised others without understanding the facts.
"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.
Rejecting Rijiju's claim that the UPA government had opposed protests, Sibal asked whether the government had used lathi-charge or pellet guns against demonstrators.
"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 said protests had played a role in India's Independence movement and could lead to another form of independence.
Taking aim at the functioning of Parliament under the current government, Sibal said, "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."
"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," he added.
Sibal also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks about 2014 marking a new era, saying the government appeared to treat India's pre-2014 history as anti-national.
"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.
Sibal said that chapter of history would be erased by 2029 and Parliament's dignity would be restored. He added that if Rijiju found himself in the Opposition in the future, the Congress would allow him to speak.
"Rijiju ji, please remember: history repeats itself."
(With inputs from PTI)