Indian democracy will not be weakened by anyone’s tweet: Manoj Jha in Rajya Sabha

RJD MP Manoj Jha is Opposition candidate for Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jah on February 4 said that India’s democracy will not be weakened by anyone’s tweet.

Jha was referring to government’s reaction to tweets by celebrities including international pop icon Rihanna and teen climate activist Greta Thunberg who came out in support of the farmers' protest against the Centre's new agriculture reform laws.

“Our democracy is strong, it will not be weakened by anyone’s tweet," Jha said during the discussion on President’s address. The Rajya Sabha has allotted 15 hours for discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in which the farmers’ protests and related issues will be discussed.

The Centre on February 3 slammed international artists and activists for their comments in support of farmers’ protest, calling them ‘neither accurate not responsible.”

Jha, in his comments, slammed Centre’s response to farmer’s protest accusing it of indulging in a ‘monologue’ instead of a ‘dialogue’.

“The government has been flaunting that they offered many things to farmers. I want to emphasise, we need to change the language. The nation doesn’t just mean a map on a piece of paper.  The government’s come to build bridges not to break them (relations),” Jha said.

The Opposition parties boycotted the president's address on January 29. In his address, President Ram Nath Kovind condemned the violence during the tractor’s rally on Republic Day while asserting that with the new three agricultural reforms, the government has provided new facilities and rights to farmers.

Enacted in September 2020, the three laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector. But the opposition parties allege that the farm laws were brought 'without any consultations with states and farmer unions and lacked national consensus'.

Thousands of protesting farmers, primarily from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several Delhi border points for over two months, demanding the repeal of the laws, and a legal guarantee on minimum support prices (MSP) for their crops.