No scope for outside interference in India’s internal matters: V-P
NEW DELHI: There is no scope for outside interference in India's internal matters and the country is capable of addressing its concerns on its own, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said on Monday in remarks that come ahead of the European Parliament debating resolutions against India's new citizenship law.
Addressing a gathering after a book launch event here, Naidu said he was concerned at the trend of foreign bodies interfering in matters that are "completely within the purview of Indian Parliament and government".
Such efforts were totally uncalled for and unwarranted, the vice president said, expressing hope that they would refrain from making such statements in future. "There was no scope for outside interference in India's internal matters," Naidu asserted.
He said whenever basic and fundamental rights of citizens came under threat, "citizens rose in unison and defended them as was seen against emergency". "Our polity and democracy do provide enough space for expressing differences and dissents whenever warranted," he said, adding that as a result, India has emerged as the most vibrant democracy in the world.
"Recently, some efforts are being made outside India to comment on some laws made by the Parliament and to raise some issues based on inadequate knowledge and insufficient understanding of the issues sought to be addressed by our law makers. Such efforts are totally uncalled for and unwarranted," Naidu said.
Noting that India is a mature Republic and democratic polity, he said, "we are capable of addressing the concerns of any of our citizens and we need no advice or guidance on such matters from others."
As a Republic of 70 years experience, the Vice President said, India has successfully withstood various challenges and overcame them.
"We are now more united than ever before and no one should have any concerns in this regard. We as a nation are committed to the cardinal principle of ensuring Justice, Liberty and Equality for all of our citizens."while we are capable of addressing our internal matters as evidenced over the last 70 years, let others do so in their respective domains," he said.
Naidu said not many westerners gave any hope and chance for the India of 1947 to survive and last as a democracy, but they were proven wrong.
Naidu noted that since the first general elections in 1952, India's Parliament and State legislatures have enacted path breaking legislations aimed at socio-economic and political reforms.
The European Parliament is set to debate and vote on a motion tabled by a large chunk of its members against India's new citizenship law, which it alleges marks a "dangerous shift" in the country's citizenship regime.
A total of six resolutions have been tabled by groups within the European Union (EU), including the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D), Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) (PPE), Group of the Greens/european Free Alliance (Verts/ale), European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR), Renew Europe Group (Renew) and European United Left/nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) Group.