Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Member of Parliament (MP) Kunwar Danish Ali has penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to address the recent episode of Islamophobia in Parliament and take steps to uphold parliamentary decorum. This comes in the wake of an Islamophobic rant directed at Ali by BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri during a parliamentary session last week.
In the strongly-worded three-page letter, Ali expressed his concern over the use of communal slurs by Bidhuri and refuted claims made by another BJP MP, Nishikant Dubey, who alleged that Ali had used casteist terms against the Prime Minister. Danish Ali clarified that it was Bidhuri who had employed “inappropriate language when referring to [the PM].”
“It is evident from House proceedings that none of the members of the ruling party objected to my stance against the use of unparliamentary language against you,” Danish Ali stated in his letter, “However, when I rose and pointed out Shri Bidhuri’s use of unparliamentary language towards you, he got rattled and reacted strongly, possibly realizing his mistake.”
Ali went on to highlight the global attention on India, emphasizing that the “world is watching India more closely.” He called upon Prime Minister Modi to condemn such behaviour and remind all members of Parliament to maintain the “highest standards of decorum and conduct.”
“In your capacity as Leader of the House and Prime Minister of our great nation, I trust you would find it deeply concerning that Shri Ramesh Bidhuri Hon’ble MP resorted to unparliamentary and abusive language,” Ali wrote.
The BSP MP also demanded accountability for Bidhuri’s “reprehensible conduct” and called for his punishment. Furthermore, he requested strengthened security arrangements due to a “barrage of threats from various sources” and shared screenshots of threatening messages he received after the parliamentary confrontation.
Ali concluded his letter by underlining the importance of India’s image as a torchbearer of democracy, urging Prime Minister Modi to take action in the interest of upholding the nation’s parliamentary integrity.
Ramesh Bidhuri, the BJP MP at the center of this controversy, has not commented on the matter except to leave its resolution to his party and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Speaker Birla, in response, had warned of “strict action” in case of any repeat of such behavior in the future.
