Click to play videoSenior politician and Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh was expelled from his party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday for writing a book – Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence – praising Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The decision was taken at the party’s chintan baithak (brainstorming session) held in Shimla.
The book has also been banned in the BJP-ruled Gujarat with immediate effect. The BJP on Thursday defended its decision to expel Jaswant Singh saying his book is in conflict with the core ideology of the party.
"If you want to write something which is directly contrary to the core beliefs of the party then you must stand outside the party advisory," said BJP leader Arun Jaitley. He then added, "In his book Jaswant Singh wrote in a manner about Sardar Patel and Muslims that the BJP strongly disapproves of."
CNN-IBN show Face The Nation debated : Do politicians have freedom of expression?
To try and answer the question on the panel of experts were: MP and BJP Spokesperson, Ravi Shankar Prasad; MP and Congress Spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi and historian Ramachandra Guha.
At the start of the show, 58 per cent of those who voted in said yes, the politicians do have freedom of expression while 42 per cent disagreed.
Freedom of expression
Defending his party’s stand Ravi Shankar Prasad said that when someone is placed as a national figure he shouldn’t go against the party’s ideology.
"Even two years ago when Jaswant Singh wrote A Call to Honour: In Service of Emergent India it caused a lot of embarrassment to the party but then the party didn’t take any action against him," he said.
Prasad even questioned Abhishek Manu Singhvi that can a Congress leader write against Jawahar Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi’s political policies.
Citing his own example, Singhvi said he also writes columns for leading newspapers and at times his views are different from that of the party but he doesn’t go talking against his party’s basic ideologies because that isn’t acceptable.
"Let us get real. I can’t go bashing my party just for the sake of bashing. So of course I know what I can write and what not," he emphasised.
Meanwhile, Ramachandra Guha gave examples of Congress politicians – Salman Khurshid and Mani Shankar Aiyar. He said both their books were dedicated to Sonia Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi respectively with a declaration of loyalty towards the party.
Taking a dig at Prasad, Guha said that the BJP claims to believe in freedom of speech but expulsion of Jaswant Singh and ban on his book in Gujarat conveys a different message.
Taking the discussion further, Singhvi said one doesn’t necessarily need to use his or her right of speech and expression by writing iconoclastic books.
Is BJP intolerant?
Staying with his earlier statement, Prasad emphasised that Jinnah was the biggest architect of India’s division while Sardar Patel was the architect of India’s unity.
Getting the debate back to Jaswant Singh’s sacking, Guha said his expulsion from the party was an overreaction.
"He could have been asked to step down from high posts or asked to stay away from chintan baithak but why expulsion?" Guha questioned.
Referring to earlier controversies, he also questioned the BJP that when Taslima Nasreen’s book was banned in West Bengal it was the first party to protest against it, then why Jaswant’s book has been banned in Gujarat.
To which Prasad said, "Sardar Patel is very close to Gujaratis" and therefore the ban is completely justified.
He further added that if the publisher of the book is aggrieved then he could take the matter to the court.
Explaining BJP’s behaviour, Guha said, "This attitude of political parties is nothing but their insecurity towards their parties’ foundations."
Concluding the debate, he urged politicians to stand up for freedom of speech and expression and underline the values of the Constitution.
Final results of the SMS/Web poll: Do politicians have freedom of expression?
Yes: 69 per cent
No: 31 per cent
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