Parliament bans pamphlets, placards and leaflets, day after releasing list of unparliamentary words

After a controversial list of ‘unparliamentary’ words, the Lok Sabha secretariat on Friday issued another advisory prohibiting distribution of any pamphlets, leaflets or placards in the House during the monsoon session.

The advisory came in response to the Opposition creating ruckus at the Parliament complex for not been given permission to hold demonstrations and dharna.

“As per established convention, no literature, questionnaire, pamphlets, Press notes, leaflets or any matter printed or otherwise should be distributed without the prior permission of Hon’ble Speaker within the precincts of the House. Placards are also strictly prohibited inside the Parliament House Complex,” the order reads.

A previous bulletin had already barred them from any “demonstration, dharna, strike, fast or for the purpose of performing any religious ceremony” in the precinct of the Parliament House.

Congress general secretary and chief whip of the party in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh was among the first ones to criticise the revisions on Twitter.

Hitting out at the government, sharing a copy of the circular, he said: “Vishguru’s latest salvo – D(h)arna Mana Hai!”

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury also reacted to the decision. “What a farce. The attempts to muzzle the soul of India, its democracy and its very voice will fall flat,” he tweeted.

The past few Parliament sessions, especially in the Rajya Sabha, saw huge uproar from the opposition parties, who tore placards and pamphlets, throwing them at the Chair or walked out of the House with placards to stage dharna, disrupting the parliamentary discussions.

There have also been instances when members of the Opposition were seen holding placards from their seats in the well, constantly drawing the ire of the Chairs in both the Houses.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat had on Thursday released a revised booklet of list of words and expressions to be considered unparliamentary in both Houses. The list stirred a controversy as it included some very commonly used words like ‘corruption’, ‘corrupt’, ‘Jumlajeevi’, ‘tanashah’, ‘Dictator’, ‘black’ among others.

It even included the words ashamed, abused, betrayed, criminal, drama, bloodshed, hooliganism, hypocrisy, and incompetent, when used in a certain context.

The monsoon session of the Parliament begins on July 18.