NEW DELHI: ‘Jumlajeevi,’ ‘Baal buddhi,’ ‘Covid spreader,’ and ‘Snoopgate’ have joined common terms such as ‘ashamed,’ ‘abused,’ ‘betrayed,’ ‘corrupt,’ ‘drama,’ ‘hypocrisy,’ and ‘incompetent’ on a list of words considered unacceptable for parliament prior to the commencement of the new session.
The Lok Sabha secretariat has produced a new handbook containing unparliamentary phrases for both chambers, prompting immediate concerns from opposition legislators who fear it would hinder their capacity to criticise the administration.
The pamphlet, which is issued before the opening of the Monsoon session on Monday, states that the terms ‘anarchist,’ ‘Shakuni,’ ‘dictatorial,’ ‘Taanashah,’ ‘Taanashahi,’ ‘Jaichand,’ ‘Vinash Purush,’ ‘Khalistani,’ and ‘Khoon Se Kheti’ would also be deleted from discussions.
However, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha shall have the last say in expunging words and expressions.
The opposition was outraged by the diktat, and Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien issued an open challenge by declaring he would continue to use the terms.
The same will be done to ‘Dohra Charitra,’ ‘Nikamma,’ ‘nautanki,’ ‘Dhindora Peetna,’ and ‘Behri Sarkar.’ MP Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted about the issue by highlighting a meme: “Agar Karein Toh Karein Kya, Bolein Toh Bolein Kya? Sirf, Wah Modi Ji Wah!”
Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra tweeted, “You mean I can’t go up in Lok Sabha and expose how an incompetent administration that should be humiliated by its hypocrisy has deceived the Indian people?”
The Lok Sabha secretariat’s list contains a disclaimer that some terms may not be considered unparliamentary if they are not read in connection with other expressions used during parliamentary proceedings.
The list also contains any allegations made against the Chair in either English or Hindi by either chamber, which are deemed unparliamentary and are removed from the parliamentary record.
A glance at a few of the terms classified as being unparliamentary:
‘ashamed’, ‘abused’ ‘bloodshed’, ‘bloody’, ‘betrayed’, ‘cheated, ‘chamcha’, ‘chamchagiri’, ‘chelas’, ‘childishness’, ‘corrupt’, ‘coward’, ‘criminal’, ‘crocodile tears’, ‘disgrace’, ‘donkey’, ‘drama’, ‘eyewash’, ‘fudge’, ‘hooliganism’, ‘hypocrisy’, ‘incompetent’, ‘mislead’, ‘lie’, ‘untrue’, ‘anarchist’, ‘gaddar’, ‘girgit’, ‘goons’, ‘ghadiyali ansu’, ‘apmaan’, ‘asatya’, ‘ahankaar’, ‘corrupt’, ‘kala din’, ‘kala bazaari’, ‘khareed farokht’, ‘danga’, ‘dalal’, ‘daadagiri’, ‘dohra charitra’, ‘bechara’, ‘bobcut’, ‘lollypop’, ‘vishwasghat’, ‘samvedanheen’, ‘foolish’, ‘pitthu’, ‘behri sarkar’, and ‘sexual harassment’.
