THE Indian parliament recently witnessed the en masse suspension of 146 opposition MPs, including apparently one who was on sick leave. The severe measure by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handpicked presiding officers in both Houses, marked a new low for the world’s most populous democracy. The MPs were merely seeking an explanation from the government for a security breach in the Lok Sabha when two men jumped into the busy House from the visitors’ gallery and released yellow gas from canisters. They demanded jobs and an end to ‘authoritarianism’. The men and their two associates arrested outside parliament claim inspiration from India’s freedom movement hero Bhagat Singh. Except that Bhagat Singh did not get an entry pass into parliament from a ruling party MP, as the two apparently did.

That the incident happened on Dec 13, the anniversary of the 2001 botched terror attack on parliament, made the episode poignant and a curious one. Home Minister Amit Shah has avoided taking blame. The government, while not heeding demands to explain the security lapse, has unleashed its brute majority to suppress the voice of elected politicians. Earlier, in the winter session that ended on Thursday, the Lok Sabha Speaker expelled Mahua Moitra, the outspoken woman MP from West Bengal. She was accused among other unproven charges of accepting money to ask questions. Ms Moitra says she was targeted for criticising a tycoon close to Mr Modi. Something about the political grooming of South Asian democracies propels them too often to cancel the opponents rather than putting their rivalries to a free and fair vote as is required of all democracies. Too many prime ministers and presidents have been deposed or assassinated, polls cancelled, and opposition leaders jailed in almost every South Asian country. India was regarded as at least the more resilient of the region’s troubled democracies. The fabled reputation appeared to be upended last week.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2023