Parliament built through constitutional values not by 'bricks of ego': Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said neither getting President Droupadi Murmu to inaugurate the new Parliament building nor inviting her to the ceremony is an "insult" to the country's highest constitutional post.
The former Congress president also said Parliament is not built by "bricks of ego" but through constitutional values.
His remarks came after 19 opposition parties, including the Congress, Left, AAP and TMC, announced their decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament complex by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying they find no value in a new building when the soul of democracy has been sucked out of Parliament.
In a tweet in Hindi, Gandhi said,"neither getting the President to inaugurate the Parliament nor inviting her to the ceremony is an insult to the country's highest constitutional post."
"Parliament is not constructed by bricks of ego, but through constitutional values," Gandhi said.
Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 following an invitation by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The opposition parties have said the President is not only the Head of State in India, but also an integral part of Parliament as she summons, prorogues, and addresses it. Therefore, they have argued that the President should inaugurate the building and not the PM.
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Syria says Israeli strikes leave 18 dead in the biggest toll since the war in Gaza began
Masyaf (Syria), Sep 9: The number of people killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Syria has risen to 18 with dozens more wounded, Syria's health minister said on Monday — the largest death toll in such an attack since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
One of the sites targeted was a research centre used in the development of weapons, a war monitor said. Syrian officials said civilian sites were targeted.
Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria linked to Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Those strikes have become more frequent as Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces for the past 11 months against the backdrop of Israel's war against Hamas — a Hezbollah ally — in Gaza.
However, the intensity and death toll of Sunday night's strikes were unusual.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.
Israel has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in Syria, particularly since Syria is a key route for Iran to send weapons to Hezbollah.
Israeli strikes hit several areas in central Syria, damaging a highway in Hama province and sparking fires, Syrian state news agency SANA said.
Speaking to reporters, Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash described the strikes as a “brutal and barbaric aggression”. He said the death toll had risen to 18 with nearly 40 wounded.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said 25 were killed, including at least five civilians, while the others included Syrian army soldiers and members of Hezbollah and other Iran-linked armed groups.
One strike targeted a scientific research centre in Masyaf, and others struck sites where “Iranian militias and experts are stationed to develop weapons in Syria”, the observatory said. It said the research centre was reportedly used for developing weapons, including short- and medium-range precision missiles and drones.
Minister of Electricity Mohammad al-Zamel said the strikes had caused “truly significant” damage to water and electricity infrastructure.
“This brutal attack targeted civilian targets, and the martyrs were mostly civilians, as were the wounded,” he said.
Local media also reported strikes around the coastal city of Tartous, which the observatory said were the result of air defense missiles falling.
On Monday afternoon, a charred car remained at the scene of one strike and smoke was still rising from some spots where fires had been put out.
