UNPARLIAMENTARY WORDS

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Before the beginning of the Monsoon session, the lok Sabha secretariat released a booklet of more than 50-pages of words considered unfit for being used in Parliament.
Many Politicians and activists have criticised the decision by terming it a “gag order” meant to shield the government against “criticism”.

Details

The list includes words and phrases that are disallowed in the Indian Parliament, in various state assemblies, and also in the parliaments of many countries.
The list also includes the words that have been deleted from the records in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha during the past years.
Article 105(2) of the Indian Constitution states that “no Member of Parliament shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said by him in Parliament”, but this is not an absolute right to say whatever they want.
- It is the responsibility of MPs to maintain the discipline of the house and follow the Rules of Parliament.
Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha states that “If the Speaker is of opinion that words have been used in the debate are defamatory or indecent or unparliamentary or undignified, the Speaker may order to delete such words from the proceedings of the House.

Unparliamentary Words

There are many phrases and words, both in English and in Indian languages, that are considered “unparliamentary”.
The Presiding Officers; Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairperson of Rajya Sabha; are authorised of keeping unparliamentary words out of Parliament’s records.
The latest list of Unparliamentry words includes ‘Jumlajeevi’, ‘Baal buddhi’, ‘Covid spreader’, ‘abused’, ‘ashamed’, ‘betrayal’, ‘chamchagiri’, ‘cheated’, ‘Snoopgate’, ‘anarchist’, ‘Shakuni’, ‘corrupt’, ‘corruption’, ‘coward’, ‘criminal’, ‘dictatorial’, ‘taanashah’, ‘tanashahi’, ‘vinash purush’, ‘Khalistani’, ‘dodgy’, ‘drama’, ‘false’, ‘eyewash’, ‘fabrication’, ‘fraud’, ‘gaslighting’, ‘hack’, ‘hooliganism’, ‘hypocrisy’, ‘incompetent’, ‘lie’, ‘lollipops’, ‘mislead’, ‘negligence’, ‘partisan’, ‘racist’, ‘poster-boy’, ‘scandal’, ‘ruthless’, ‘traitor’, ‘witch’. etc.
Many expressions have been added to the list including: “You have double standards”; “You have to be fair”; “I curse you” and “Sir, why are you trying to gag my mouth? Don’t try to gag my mouth”.

Way Forward

The Lok Sabha Speaker has clarified that no words or phrases have been banned in Parliament and members have absolute freedom to express their views.
The decision to release the list was taken after the instruction of the Speaker or the Chairman and the government has no role in it.
The list is just a set of general guidelines to maintain the dignity of the Parliament.
This is a regular exercise and such compilations have been brought out in 1986, 1992, 1999, 2004 and 2009.