The Privilege Motions

Om Puri and Kiran Bedi face privilege motions for having spoken against the Loksabha members

Om Puri said the MPs are ‘naalaayak’, ‘nikamma’, ‘anpadh’ and ‘ganwaar’.

That, apparently ,is a breach of privilege of the MPs.

I agree.

Om Puri should not have described themselves as such

They alone have the right and the privilege to describe themselves accurately. Who is Om Puri to take away their rights?

Remember, how once upon a time there was an old man in a hurry, one Mr. Deve Gowda who was Prime Minister? Some MP called him nikamma. In a spirited defense, before handing the baton to IK Gujral, Mr. Gowda who knew little Hindi, asked : What is this ‘nikamma’? Nikkamma… akkamma…

Clearly, if the PM could say that on the floor of the House, it is no longer an unparliamentary word. After all ,it was used to describe the Prime Minister of India , damn it !

Actually, all these words and much worse have been used in many legislatures across the country. The Speakers of these Houses have long been reduced to instructing the secretaries to refrain from taking anything on record. They and the secretaries are so accustomed to it, probably very often they babble in sleep… nothing on record… kuch record mein nahiin jaayega.

As for Kiran Bedi, the mimicry was very poor. She could hardly match a back-bencher in antics. Really, there are a good many law-makers who do a far superior mimicry of democracy than Kiran Bedi could ever hope to match.

So, what privilege was breached?

Nothing . The MPs and the parliament are supreme, and Om Puri and Kiran Bedi are poor imitators. The parliament should send them to the National School of Drama, give them enough time to really learn, and then decide whether they are capable of saying anything that amounts to a trespass. Of parliamentary privilege.