New Delhi: Speculation has ensued after Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi denied that she had signed or approved an answer attributed to her in the Lok Sabha Friday. This was a reply to a question on whether the Union government had any proposal to declare the Palestinian militant group Hamas a “terrorist organisation”.
The question and answer are available on the websites of both the Lok Sabha and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The question posed by Congress MP Kumbakudi Sudhakaran was, “Will the Minister of External Affairs be pleased to state (a) whether the government has any proposal to declare Hamas as a terrorist organisation in India, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and (b) whether the Government of Israel has raised any demand to the Government of India to declare Hamas as terrorist organisation, if so, the details thereof?”
According to the document, Lekhi responded saying that such decisions fall under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act — implying that it falls under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The response reads: “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.”
However, responding to a journalist’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Lekhi — minister of state for external affairs and culture and the MP from New Delhi — denied having signed or approved any such response on her behalf.
You have been misinformed as I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer @DrSJaishankar @PMOIndia https://t.co/4xUWjROeNH
— Meenakashi Lekhi (@M_Lekhi) December 8, 2023
She then called for an inquiry into the matter.
Inquiry will reveal the culprit @DrSJaishankar @PMOIndia https://t.co/XPpfrlaUQ3
— Meenakashi Lekhi (@M_Lekhi) December 8, 2023
At a press conference Saturday, Lekhi said she had reached out to Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra for an investigation into the matter.
Members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha ask questions to relevant ministries and a reply is sent to them by the concerned ministers. This is uploaded on the ministry’s website as well as that of Parliament.
Specific questions, known as starred questions, are posed on the floor of the House during Question Hour. The Chair may permit the member to ask additional questions too. However, this was an unstarred question.
ThePrint reached Lekhi and the office of the Lok Sabha Secretariat via telephone calls, text messages and emails but had not received a response when this report was published. This report will be updated once a response is received.
Shiv Sena deputy leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, a Rajya Sabha MP, has also reacted to the development, observing that if this is a false response attributed to Lekhi, then it is “a serious breach and violation of the rules that prevail”.
In the tweet below,
– Meenakshi Lekhi ji is denying&disassociating to a response attributed to her
– says has no idea who drafted this as response to a PQ since she didn’t sign it
– is she then claiming it is a forged response, if yes this is a serious breach and violation of… pic.twitter.com/4mNscaFhpA
— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) December 9, 2023
In October this year, Israel had urged India to designate Hamas a terror group, after the militant group’s devastating attacks on Israel on 7 October. While India has condemned the 7 October terror attacks, it is yet to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation.
The Indian government told Israel that a militant group – which has no history of attacks in the country – would only make it to its list if the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) recognised it as a terror organisation, sources in the security establishment earlier told ThePrint.
Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October killed 1,200 Israelis. Israel’s subsequent attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 17,000 people, according to Gaza health officials.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in UAE earlier this month and emphasised a “two-state solution to the conflict”.