NEW DELHI: The decision to not resume Parliament is against the tradition of India where it has been in session in times of crises like wars and terror attacks, said former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court A P Shah. He was speaking at the inauguration of ‘Janta Parliament’ — a series of online sessions on a range of themes organised by several civil society organisations and people’s campaigns.
The functioning of Parliament ensures the accountability of the representatives to the people, he said. “Contrast this with how other jurisdictions have been operating in this time of crisis: the United Kingdom, Canada, European Parliament, have all made procedural changes that enable holding hybrid or complete virtual sessions of parliament, with some members being physically present in the house, and others participating through video conference,” said Shah.
He added the idea of a ‘free media’ was also under attack. There has been an attempt to destroy the institutions of India, he added. “With Parliament already so weakened, the Supreme Court would have been the next best space to discuss the Kashmir trifurcation, the constitutional validity of the CAA, suppression and criminalisation of protests against this law...
Sadly, most are ignored,” he added. Speaking at the virtual event, Jignesh Mewani, MLA, said, “Many questions were and are emerging due to the pandemic and we have no forum to demand timely explanations from the governance.” Pointing out how the new form of online education has left tribal children out of the educational system, activist Soni Sori said this was one of the ‘worst fallouts’ of the pandemic. Despite human rights violations continuing amid the pandemic, little can be done to raise questions, she said.