New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla Thursday reacted to the opposition's backlash over the list of words that have been marked as 'unparliamentary'.
"Words that have been expunged have been used in the Parliament by the Opposition as well as the party in power. No selective expunging of words used by only Opposition...no words banned, have removed words that were objected to previously," Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said during a briefing on the matter. "Members free to express their views; no one can snatch that right but should be as per decorum of Parliament," he added.
The LS speaker said that the decision to expunge words was taken keeping in mind the context and objections raised by other members. Several opposition leaders and senior members of Parliament have lashed out at the report of the Lok Sabha Secretariat which has released a list of words that has been designated as "unparliamentary."
The list comes just ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament that begins on July 18. Usage of many words - such as 'corruption', 'corrupt', 'Jumlajeevi', 'tanashah', 'Dictator', 'black' and 'Khalistani' are among those that have been banned. "Words that are not conducive to a healthy debate have been scrapped. It is a part of the parliamentary process. Expunging parliamentary words is a practice followed since 1959," Birla said while asking the opposition not to "mislead the nation".
News agency ANI quoting sources in the Lower House on Thursday said that such removal of words has been taking place since 1954 under various political dispensations. Earlier, several senior members of Parliament criticized the report of the Lok Sabha Secretariat which released a list of words that have been designated as "unparliamentary".
"Any word spoken which is against the ethos of Parliament or disrespectful in nature and can compromise of the dignity of the house the discretion lies with the chair to expunge them," said the sources. "Such compilation has been made since 1954 under various political dispensations. From time to time this has been brought out under various political dispensations," added the sources. The Lok Sabha Secretariat gave some examples of certain words that had been expunged earlier.
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"The word 'dishonest' was first expunged in a Rajya Sabha debate on August 17, 2011. Similarly, the word 'dishonesty' was first expunged in the Lok Sabha debate on March 3, 2011," said the sources. As part of a Parliament record, the word 'Shame' was expunged on March 21, 2012. The word 'cheating' was taken off the Parliament records as unparliamentary in the Rajya Sabha debate on March 20, 2012.
"The chair had expunged the words 'Chori' and 'loot' first time in the Lok Sabha debate on March 13, 2012 and 'jhooth' on April 27, 2012," said the sources. The words 'corrupt' and 'corrupt man' were expunged from the Parliament records on November 17, 1966, in a Lok Sabha debate. "Ayogya - incompetent- first expunged on November 17, 1966, from Parliament records of a Lok Sabha debate," said the sources.
Referring to the reaction of the Opposition, the government sources said this is a result of their "bankrupt politics" as the list is not a new suggestion, but merely a compilation of words already expunged in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, or state legislatures. It also contains a list of words considered unparliamentary in parliaments of Commonwealth countries.
"It is abused was considered unparliamentary in Australia's House of Representatives. Childishness was considered unparliamentary in Quebec's National Assembly. Lollipops in the budget was expunged from Punjab Assembly. You have reached here telling a lie was expunged from Punjab Assembly," said the sources. The list comes just ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament that begins on July 18.
