Prashant Bhushan says democratic institutions, right to dissent facing threat under NDA govt

Thiruvananthapuram: Lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan on Sunday alleged that all democratic institutions in the country were facing threat under the NDA government and the issue of the right to dissent was under attack. [caption id=“attachment_3366744” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Prashant Bhushan. PTI[/caption] The minorities in the country were also being subjected to attack on various grounds, he alleged. “Sometimes they are attacked in the name of beef or ’love jihad’,” Bhushan said, delivering a lecture on ‘Indian Democracy under Sangh Parivar’ in Thiruvananthapuram. He alleged that all democratic institutions in India faced threat under the NDA government and the issue of “thoughts and questioning and the right to dissent itself was under attack”. Bhushan alleged that as most of the states where “such violence” was happening were “controlled” by the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, there was no accountability of the people who indulged in violence against the minorities. He said that the concept of “nationalism” being propagated by the BJP-RSS combine was “narrow and misguided”. On the issue of Rohingya refugees, Bhushan said, “The BJP-RSS combine says that anybody who stands for the rights of poor Rohingya refugees are anti-nationals. This is a very narrow and misguided kind of meaning sought to be given for nationalism.” On the killing of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, Bhushan said, “We don’t know who actually fired bullets at her. But we do know who are the people who threatened her.” Lankesh was shot dead outside her residence in Bengaluru on 5 September.