India’s Supreme Court has dismissed a petition calling for President Droupadi Murmu to inaugurate the parliament's new building instead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr Modi is expected to inaugurate India’s new state-of-the-art parliament building on May 28, but the decision has sparked controversy with nearly 20 opposition parties expected to boycott the ceremony, branding it as an “assault on democracy”.
In a petition to the Supreme Court, lawyer Jaya Sukin argued that the President, as head of the legislature, should inaugurate the new parliament and that Mr Modi’s government was “humiliating” Ms Murmu by failing to even invite her to the ceremony.
A bench comprising of Justices J K Maheshwari and P S Narasimha refused to entertain the petition and asked for it to be withdrawn.
There is no protocol that says that the president is required to inaugurate the Parliament building.
India's president is a ceremonial head of the country with no real powers, but is regarded as superior to every official under administrative protocols and is considered the first citizen of India.
Nineteen opposition parties including the Indian National Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress issued a statement on Thursday accusing Mr Modi of “completely sidelining” President Murmu and that the move was not only “a grave insult, but a direct assault on democracy”.
The statement added: “The Prime Minister has decided to inaugurate the new parliament building without her.
“This undignified act insults the high office of President and violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution.”
Senior opposition figures also spoke out against the Modi government's actions.
“Mr Modi, Parliament is the temple of democracy established by the people.
“The office of the President is the first part of Parliament. The arrogance of your government has destroyed the parliamentary system,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a tweet.
“He is a narcissist prime minister. This a constitutional crisis: the President is the highest citizen. He doesn’t respect her. In every project it is his face, his picture,” Sudip Raha, spokesperson of Trinamool Congress, the ruling party in West Bengal state, told The National.
“He is spending 12,000 crore rupees [$1.45 billion] on this project when people of India are not getting funds for building houses, the voters are suffering to get a roof over their head.”
Asaduddin Owaisi, president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party in the southern state of Telangana, said the government's planned action “deals a blow to the constitutionally established separation of powers of the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary”.
“From the beginning, we have been saying that the Prime Minister should not have laid the foundation stone for the new Parliament.
“We opposed his unveiling of the national emblem on the Parliament House on the same grounds of separation of powers. Today too we say the Prime Minister should not inaugurate as this action by him violates the theory of separation of powers.
State-of-art building
Mr Modi laid the foundation stone for the new parliament building in December 2020, saying it was a “landmark opportunity to build a people’s parliament for the first time after Independence”.
The building, a triangular structure spread across 65,000 square metres, will replace the circular parliament house built 94 years ago by British colonial rulers.
Mr Modi’s government plans to turn the old building into a museum.
The government has said that the new parliament with its unique shape will offer optimal utilisation of space and features larger halls, a modern library, redeveloped offices and committee rooms with state-of-art facilities.
The chamber of the Lok Sabha, the 545-seat lower house of India's Parliament, will have a capacity for up to 888 seats, while Rajya Sabha – the upper house – will have a capacity for 384 seats as compared with 250 now.
The new parliament is a part of Mr Modi’s $2.8 billion Central Vista Redevelopment Project to replace the buildings in Delhi that once served as the seat of power for British rulers.
The project has been criticised by opposition parties, historians, architects and even former bureaucrats who say it is an attempt to erase institutional memories and historical buildings.
It includes a new multi-billion-dollar Prime Minister's residence.
The government has been criticised over the high cost of the project and accused of misplaced priorities after it was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic at a time when people were struggling to get oxygen cylinders and admission to overcrowded hospitals.
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Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
