SAVE CONSTITUTION, DEFEND DEMOCRACY

Has Parliament failed us in passing a rushed constitutional amendment?

No bills to be passed in budget session, they should be sent to a select committee!

Demanding a new law making process, where we the people have oversight over it!

Dear All,

An event took place in January first week, which has far-reaching implications for the whole of India. A basic feature of the constitution was amended, in just two days even before 99.9% of the people and many MPs saw the text of the amendment. This was for the 10% quota on an economic basis. You may agree with it or disagree with it, but you need to worry about it. Because this means, any government in the future, might in just two days amend any basic feature of the constitution. They may remove our right to free speech, right to education, to move freely anywhere in India, to marry a person of our choice etc.

This was not the only way democracy was subverted in the last month. Lok Sabha passed 7 bills, ignoring demands to send the bills to select committees for greater scrutiny. The bills are listed below and are now up for a vote in Rajya Sabha. 

• Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018
• Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016
• DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018
• Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018
• Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018
• Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016
• Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 .

In the light of this, we, a collective of various rights-oriented groups and individuals, are gathering as a united forum to discuss how we can ensure that the Parliament does not fail us again. We invite all of you to be part of this discussion. All the Rajya Sabha MPs of Karnataka, Lok Sabha MPs from Bangalore will be invited to the event. The concerns over parliamentary procedure and concerns with each of the bills will be discussed. Experts and people from affected communities will be speaking. Our demands for a new law making process will also be discussed,

At this event, MPs will be requested to listen to us, the voters. We ask that they listen to our concerns and communicate our concerns back to Parliament, to their parties. We ask for an assurance that the fraud on the constitution, that is the 10% quota, be rolled back. We ask that, in a country where even large projects and masterplans of cities need a public consultation before being approved, laws should not be made without consulting us, the public.

Prof. Ravi Verma Kumar, former Advocate General, Karnataka, will be presiding over the meeting, and the following speakers will be making presentations at the meeting:

1.    Hulikunte Murthy, Bayalu Balaga

Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill 2019

2.    Dr. Usha Ramanathan

The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018

The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018

3.    Aditya Sondhi, Senior Advocate, Karnataka High Court

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016

4.    Dr. Chaman Farzana 

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018

5.    Nisha Gulur – Sangama, Karnataka Sex Workers Union, NNSW

Kumar B – Samara

The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016

We have attached an annexure with the contact details of all the MPs. Please make sure you call them and demand that they attend the event. We have also attached our formal statement. We urge you to go through it, endorse it, and circulate it as widely as possible.

Please do attend the public meet. Please spread the word. Let’s work to ensure that we retain control over our lives, that we work to build an India that works for all. 

Thanking you

Yours Sincerely,

The Voices of Karnataka

For more details, please call 9880595032, 8884955418, 9480452037

Let’s fight for an equal, plural India! For dignity for all!

List of MPs

B.K. Hariprasad 9013181029 (080)23343994 bk.hariprasad@nic.in
Syed Naseer Hussain 9980420608, 9868031509
G C Chandrashekar 9845004979 gcchandru1971@gmail.com
K. C. Ramamurthy 9845323700, 9482129296 kcrm90@gmail.com
Nirmala Sitharaman 23793791, 23793792 (safdarjung road, delhi code)
Prabhakar Kore 9868181747 24610747(humayun tomb, delhi code) p.kore@sansad.nic.in
D. Kupendra Reddy 09980055599 kuppu@siddpl.com
P C Mohan 9013180136 (011) 23016074 pc.mohan@sansad.nic.in
Rajeev Gowda 919845162171
Sadanand Gowda 9448123249