Unduly prickly

The government has listed new unparliamentary words — those that MPs are barred from uttering in Parliament and, if used, are to be expunged. Unsurprisingly, many leaders have been quick to label the list as a gag order. Well, given that the long list includes everyday usage necessary to make a critical comment or drive home a point effectively, it does defy comprehension as to why the leaders are being prohibited from speaking these words. Consider some banned expressions: abuse, corrupt, ashamed, betrayed, hypocrisy, drama, incompetent, jumlajeevi, Shakuni, dictatorial, taanashahi, dhindora peetna and behri sarkar. A leader who wittily remarked that this would leave them with nothing but to exhort ‘wah Modi wah!’ is not quite off the mark. The caveat that some words, unless read along with other expressions, may not be erased is hardly encouraging.

Debate is the soul of parliamentary proceedings. The parliaments of the world witness illuminating debates and eloquent speeches. While ruling party MPs lay forth government policies and proposed laws, Opposition members, if not convinced, argue against them, with both sides substantiating their respective views with cogent points and reasoning. Even as the exercise tends to become heated, the leaders are expected to be polite and follow House etiquette. To prevent any slanderous remark or offensive outburst on the august premises, certain words are expunged though not exactly banned as the Speaker clarified. However, more often than not, the debate turns into a shouting match, with rivals hurling accusations at one another, leaving little room for a constructive discussion. The Speaker (in the Lok Sabha) or the Chairman (Rajya Sabha) is usually left banging the gavel, pleading for ‘order’ or reporting violations of the House rules.

While the standards of the Indian political discourse need to be raised, the government should allow space to enable a dialogue. It must be tolerant of prickly expressions that exude truthfulness and accurately sum up the situation. A review of the unparliamentary language list is in order.

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