SPEAKER AMENDS RULES AFTER MPS RAISE VARIOUS SLOGANS DURING OATH FOR 18TH LOK SABHA
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has amended the oath-taking rules for Members of Parliament, prohibiting them from adding any remarks during their oath as members of the House. This change comes in response to many members resorting to slogans during their oaths for the 18th Lok Sabha on June 24 and 25.
A new clause has been added to ‘Direction 1’ within the ‘Directions by the Speaker’ to manage specific matters related to the House's functioning that are not explicitly covered by existing rules.
What does the new amendment say?
According to the amendment to ‘Direction 1’, as reported by news agency PTI, the new clause 3 states that a member shall take and subscribe to the oath or affirmation without using any words or expressions as prefixes or suffixes to the prescribed form.
Several members raised slogans such as “Jai Samvidhan” and “Jai Hindu Rashtra” during their oaths last week. One member also raised the slogan “Jai Palestine” which was met with objections from several members. Despite the then protem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab urging members to adhere to the prescribed format, these instructions were ignored.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju claimed that several members used the solemn occasion of taking their oath or making an affirmation to send political messages.
The slogans sparked a war of words between the treasury and opposition benches on June 24 and 25. (In Parliament, the treasury benches refer to the front-row seats occupied by senior leaders of the ruling party or union ministers. The benches to the Speaker's right are traditionally reserved for the ruling party's council of ministers.)
The first session of the eighteenth Lok Sabha concluded on Tuesday, July 2. During the session, new members took their oaths, and the House adopted a motion of thanks to the President's address following a debate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to the debate.
What was the row over the ‘Jai Palestine’ slogan?
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi sparked controversy on June 25 by concluding his oath-taking in the 18th Lok Sabha with the slogan “Jai Palestine.”
Owaisi, re-elected as MP from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, took his oath in Urdu and ended it with the slogans “Jai Bheem, Jai Telangana, Jai Palestine.”
The unexpected inclusion of “Jai Palestine” immediately drew objections from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs in the House. Radha Mohan Singh, who was presiding over the swearing-in ceremony, announced that the controversial slogan would be expunged from the official records.
However, Owaisi defended his actions after leaving the House, telling reporters there was nothing wrong in saying, “Jai Bheem, Jai Meem, Jai Telangana, Jai Palestine.”
“Other members are also saying different things... How is it wrong? Tell me the provision of the Constitution. You should also listen to what others say. I said what I had to. Read what Mahatma Gandhi had said about Palestine,” Owaisi said.
Asked why he mentioned Palestine, he said, “They are oppressed people.”
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2024-07-04T01:54:53Z dg43tfdfdgfd