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THE MINISTRY of External Affairs on Monday changed the name of the minister mentioned in the written reply tabled in the Lok Sabha, to Congress MP K Sudhakaran’s question on whether the government had any proposal to declare the Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
On Saturday, Union Minister of State, MEA, Meenakshi Lekhi had publicly disassociated herself from the reply, which did not commit to any such proposal, saying she had not signed it – leading to Opposition criticism against her of “serious breach and violation of rules” and demands for her resignation.
On Sunday, the MEA issued a statement, saying the unstarred question by Sudhakaran, the MP from Kannur, Kerala, “needs a technical correction in terms of reflecting Shri V Muraleedharan as the Minister of State replying to the Parliament question”. “This is being suitably undertaken,” the Ministry added.
On Monday, Muraleedharan accordingly tabled a statement in the Lok Sabha, “correcting” the name of the minister who replied to the question.
Sudhakaran had asked whether the Union government had any proposal to declare Hamas as a terrorist organisation in India and whether Israel had raised any such demand before New Delhi.
The ministry’s reply, uploaded on December 8, and attributed to Lekhi, stated: “Designation of an organisation as terrorist is covered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and declaring any organisation as terrorist is considered as per the provisions of the Act by the relevant government departments.”
In her social media post tagging the question raised by Sudhakaran and the ministry’s reply, Lekhi had posted: “You have been misinformed as I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer.” She tagged both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in this.
Sources said that while the Congress and some other Opposition parties wanted to take it up as a serious issue, allies such as the CPI(M) advised caution. The party’s leaders from Kerala warned that a controversy on the question could be interpreted as the Opposition “pressuring the government to declare Hamas as a terrorist organisation”.
This is a sensitive issue in Kerala as both the Congress and Left are fighting to consolidate their Muslim support there, with the Left taking the lead over the Congress in holding public rallies supporting the Palestine cause in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.
Sudhakaran, who is also the president of the Congress in Kerala, has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking an inquiry into the incident of a minister disassociating from the reply given in Parliament. He has also sought the resignation of Lekhi.
Sudhakaran said the minister refuting her involvement in the answer constitutes “a violation of the Indian Constitution, raising questions about her oath as a minister and flagrant breach of parliamentary privilege”.
“Ministers are collectively responsible for an answer prepared by the ministry. The minister’s purported lack of awareness of how the answer appeared under her name without her signature raises questions about the ethical conduct of our parliamentary proceedings,” Sudhakaran said in his letter to Birla.
“Given the gravity of the situation, especially concerning matters of national security, I strongly demand that the mishandling of the issue warrants the resignation of the minister in question. Additionally, I urge a thorough and impartial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding this incident to ensure transparency and uphold the integrity of our parliamentary processes,” he wrote.
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