Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi denies approving response to question about Hamas in Parliament

Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi on Saturday denied approving response to a question in Parliament regarding declaring Palestinian militant group Hamas as a terrorist organisation in India.

This comes after journalist Sidhant Sibal on Friday posted the official response from Parliament website mentioning Lekhi’s name on social media platform X. Lekhi had responded to Sibal’s tweet on Saturday saying: “You have been misinformed as I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer.”

However, the question, available on Parliament website, was posed by Congress Lok Sabha MP K Sudhakaran. The MP had asked the government whether it has any proposal to declare Hamas as a terrorist organisation in India.

The legislator had also asked whether the government of Israel has raised any demand to the Indian authorities to declare Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

In her response as posted on Parliament website, the union minister of state for external affairs and culture said that designation of an organisation as terrorist is covered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. She added that declaring any organisation as terrorist group is considered under the provisions of the anti-terror law by the relevant government departments.

After Lekhi denied signing the official response, the politician was asked by a user on social media who gave the answer in her place. “Inquiry will reveal the culprit,” the Bharatiya Janata Party MP said in a tweet.

Opposition MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also asked how the minister’s response was uploaded on Parliament website without her knowledge.

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader asked if by denying to a response attributed to her, Lekhi was claiming that it was forged.

“If yes this is a serious breach and violation of the rules that prevail,” she said in a tweet. “Would be grateful for a clarification from the Ministry of External Affairs.”