Parliament House opening: ‘Insult to tribals’, Adivasi Congress to stage protest for overlooking Murmu

Parliament House opening: ‘Insult to tribals’, Adivasi Congress to stage protest for overlooking MurmuMay 25, 2023New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) The Congress on Thursday once again targeted the BJP government at the Centre for not inviting then President Ram Nath Kovind for laying the foundation for the new Parliament House, while now his successor Droupadi Murmu has not been invited to inaugurate the new building on May 28.The party said that Adivasi Congress will stage protests across the country on Friday for not getting Murmu to inaugurate the new Parliament House.Sharing the statements of the All India Adivasi Congress, the party’s General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Then President Ram Nath Kovind was not invited to the foundation laying ceremony for the new Parliament in December 2020, and now the current President Droupadi Murmu is not allowed to inaugurate the new Parliament building. “The Adivasi Congress underlines in its statement issued today that under Prime Minister Modi, ‘the Constitutional rights of Adivasis and Dalits are not secure even after being in the highest Constitutional position’. It also highlights how the Modi government has systematically undercut forest and environmental laws to the detriment of the tribal communities.”He also shared the statement of Adivasi Congress which said that “the new Parliament building is going to be inaugurated on May 28 and the tribal communities across India are in a rage due to the autocratic decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate it himself, converting this historical moment into yet another PR stunt for his political promotion”.”The Prime Minister is completely sidelining India’s first woman tribal President. This is not just a direct insult to India’s democracy, but also to the entire tribal community in India,” Shivajirao Moghe, Chairman of All India Adivasi Congress, said.Moghe said that the Parliament is the supreme legislative authority, and the President of India is the highest Constitutional authority.He added that the President is the head of the state, who summons, prorogues, and addresses the Parliament. “But under BJP’s rule, the office of the President of India has been reduced to mere tokenism. We want to remind the nation that it was the Prime Minister who, during the foundation laying ceremony in December 2020, did not invite then President Kovind. This exposes the mentality of the current BJP regime,” he said.”Is this the welfare of tribals and Dalits that the Prime Minister talks about? The constitutional rights of the tribals and Dalits are not secure even after being in the highest constitutional position during the tenure of Modi as the Prime Minister,” Moghe said.Hitting out at the government, he added, “Most BJP-governed states are not following the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Rules and the regulations established in 1996. The PESA Act has been diluted in various states governed by the BJP. The BJP has also weakened the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, brought by the Congress government to secure the rights of the tribals and other forest dwellers.””Hence, on behalf of the tribal communities across India, the All India Adivasi Congress will organise protests across the country on May 26 to hold the Centre accountable for its unconstitutional actions,” Moghe said.–IANSaks/arm