New Delhi: 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.
