Reacting to the
physical attack on him allegedly by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLAs after he demanded President's rule following the breakdown of Constitutional machinery, Lok Satta Party (LSP) President Jayaprakash Narayan on Thursday said, "I do not view it as a personal attack on me. It is an assault on democracy itself."
Addressing media persons a few hours after he was subjected to the physical attack on the Assembly premises, Dr. Narayan expressed his gratitude to the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, the Chairman of the Legislative Council, the Chief Minister, the leader of the Opposition and thousands of others who had conveyed to him their sympathies. He wished speedy recovery of MLC Paladugu Venakata Rao who came to his rescue unmindful of his age and health.
Pointing out that a number of people were seething with anger while some others were sad over the incidents, he appealed to people not to react violently either in word or deed. In this context, he recalled Mahatma Gandhi's saying that "an eye for an eye will leave the entire world blind."
Dr. Narayan added he did not lodge a complaint against anybody for the attack. He believed that the Chair is competent enough to take all steps to preserve democracy and ensure smooth conduct of the House.
Speaking without any anger or rancor, the former IAS officer said that he has always maintained that the party is more important than an individual, and the country is more important than a party. He stated that some people wanted to silence the voice of those who enjoy credibility because they always speak facts. "Facts do not go away whether there is JP or no JP. Dharma and justice will always triumph", he said.
Dr. Narayan appealed to the people to sit up and take notice of the decline in democratic values. He further said,"Democracy calls for reasoned debate and harmonization of different viewpoints in a peaceful manner through constitutional means. Democracy does not mean mere conduct of elections. Democracy has been under attack in some part of the country or the other every day".
The LSP chief said he did not advocate suspension of the Assembly and the imposition of President's rule, as put out by certain media sections. He clarified that what he said was that if the situation was allowed to drift and lead to President's rule, it did not augur well for democracy.
The former bureaucrat said he was fully committed to protecting the rights of Telangana people. He said, "It was the Lok Satta Party which spearheaded the move for the deletion of Section 14 from the Presidential Order on recruitment of police personnel in Hyderabad. It was the Lok Satta which opposed the diversion of the Godavari water for meeting the drinking water needs of Hyderabad as it would harm the interests of the people in Telangana. It was again the Lok Satta which strongly argued for utilization of the Nagarjunasagar waters for the benefit of Telangana and Rayalaseema".
The Lok Satta Party, he recalled, always maintained that if people accomplished their dream of a separate Telangana state peacefully, it would not be a catastrophe. At the same time, the party believed that a separate state would not serve its purpose unless the people of the region have access to education, health and employment opportunities, and local governments are fully empowered.
He said he still regarded TRS members as friends and harbored no ill-will against them.
Lok Satta Party working president DVVS Varma appealed to all political parties and democratic forces to observe February 18th as 'Democracy Protection Day' to condemn the physical attack on party President Dr. Narayan in the Assembly precincts.
He condemned the TRS activists' attack on Medak Lok Satta Party President Tummalapalli Srinivas, who was peacefully protesting against the attack on Dr. Narayan.
Courtesy: INN