On a day when the Economic Survey was tabled in Parliament and just two days ahead of the Union Budget for the 2016-17 fiscal is to be presented, it seems the lawmakers had more pressing issues to discuss than the economic issues of the country. Questions were not raised about the GDP growth or effects of global markets, but what roared in the House was the issue of 'Mahishasura' and goddess 'Durga'.
The hullabaloo began with Human Resource and Development Minister Smriti Irani's speech on Thursday on the Jawaharlal Nehru University controversy where she read out a pamphlet which mentioned about Mahishasura Martyrdom Day, held in October 2013. Her words gave enough ammunition to a united opposition to target the minister.
Rhetorical skills were on full display, demons were discussed and unruly scenes were witnessed on the floor of the House.
Opposition parties sought an apology from Smriti Irani for reading out in Rajya Sabha "objectionable" comments, which she claimed she presented as they were proof of her statements against JNU students.
Lashing out on the HRD minister, Deputy Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma claimed that the Constitution and rules do not permit anything to be raised in the House which is blasphemous and can hurt religious sentiments.
Irani, he said, had read out "insulting" comments "verbatim" in the House hurting sentiments and sought a ruling from the Chair as to whether such comments made outside Parliament against any religious figure or a deity can be read out inside the House.
Not just the Congress, other opposition parties, too, joined hands and attacked Irani for making those comments and sought unconditional apology from her.
Launching a scathing attack on Irani in the Rajya Sabha, CPI(M) MP Sitaram Yechury said, "I don't know why topics of Durga and Mahisasura have being brought in the House and are being used to divide the nation. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee called Indira Gandhi Durga after the 1971 war, she refused to accept the title since many Bahujans worship Mahisasura."
Irani, however, remained unfazed by the criticism and asserted that she herself was a "practising hindu and a Durga worshipper". The HRD minister also insisted that she had read out the comments from authenticated documents from JNU as she was repeatedly being asked to explain what was the evidence against students accused of anti-national acts, which some parties were giving respectability to.
Coming to his colleague's defence, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi attacked Congress and other opposition parties saying it had become a pattern for them to seek a Short Duration Discussion, a couple of Calling Attention Motions and an apology in every session while showing no interest in legislative business.
He also said that Congress was raising the issue as its vice president Rahul Gandhi was criticised for supporting those indulging in activities against the nation.
According to Hindu mythology, Mahishasura obtained a boon from Lord Agni that he would be killed only by a woman and went on to chase away Devas from heaven. Armed with the trident from Lord Shiva and a chakra from Lord Vishnu, Godess Durga killed the demon in a fierce battle.
But that narrative is not without the side stories. Mahishasura is revered by some tribal communities in West Bengal and other eastern parts of the country.
In JNU, the Mahishasura festival has been observed every October since 2011 to challenge existing caste hierarchies. The university witnessed clashes that year when the festival was hosted by the All India Backward Students Federation.
These are testing times for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on the economic front where the country is vulnerable to the effects of global markets, reeling with one of the worst agrarian crisis, struggling to cope with public sector banks and neck deep in bad debts. In such crucial times, lawmakers must indulge in constructive debates and not in mudslinging and political war of words.
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