Sir — Perhaps I am old fashioned, but having followed all the general elections in free India since 1952 and participated in at least 10 of them, I find that the sort of language being used in the ongoing general election is grossly inappropriate. The whole concept of the cut and parry of debate seems to have disappeared, perhaps reflecting the sort of scenes that we have witnessed in Parliament over the last few years.
I recall that when I stood against Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee in lucknow in 1999, the only point I made was that,as he had promised not to contest again from there for the fourth time, it was my duty to see that his promise was not broken! During the crucial post-Emergency 1977 lok Sabha election, my opponent Om Saraf and I used to complement each other personally before beginning our speeches. Incidentally, I was the only Minister in Indira Gandhi’s Government to win at that time from north India.
There are many ways of saying a thing. Winston Churchill, for all his imperial attitudes, was a consummate debater. Once, when he called someone in the House of Commons a ‘liar’, the Speaker intervened and said that the word was unparliamentary. Churchill apologised and instead accused his opponent of indulging in terminological inexactitude. He also called the labour Opposition a “sheep in sheep’s clothing” and described their leader Clement Attlee as “a truly modest person who has a great deal to be modest about”.
Such humour, unfortunately, seems to have evaporated in our country. Instead of the scalpel, we use the axe. Violent and extremist language not only sullies the atmosphere of our magnificent general election, it creates hostility and bad blood which spills over into Parliament and State legislatures .
I have long felt that one of the main reasons for the erosion of our parliamentary democracy is the fact that not only is objectionable language used, but also that members walk into the well of the Houses and force repeated adjournments. Is it too much to expect leaders of all sides to kindly lower the pitch, at least in the period that still remainsIJ