What’s ‘unparliamentary,’ what’s not? It’s all in the context | India News

NEW DELHI: A list of ‘unparliamentary‘ words released by the Lok Sabha secretariat has triggered a row, with the opposition calling it an attempt to gag all criticism of the government ahead of the Monsoon session.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla clarified that the list is only a compilation of words expunged from records of Parliament and various state assemblies, a practice since 1959.
Some commonly used words like ‘ashamed’, ‘corrupt’, ‘drama’, ‘hypocrisy’ and ‘incompetent’ have been included in the list.
Earlier, hello, barrel of guns, black sheep, cattle, caste, challenge, orphan and bathroom have all made it to the list. Backdoor, bad, betray, better half, changing sarees, conspiracy, false, fraud, illogical, obsolete, joker, liar, misleading, mockery, psychophants, foreign money, joke, shy and giggle too were declared ‘unparliamentary’ in the past. Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin and Ravan are also on the list.
It really is the context factor that decides if a word, however innocuous, is labeled ‘unparliamentary,’ or a statement by a member be expunged form the records. The final decision in such matters rests with the Speaker.
We look at some past instances when certain words or expressions by elected representatives have attracted disciplinary actions.
Amusement- 1952
In 1952 itself, a list of about 163 words that cannot be used in Parliament was prepared. And the first one on that list was “amusement.”
It was deemed unparliamentary to describe the Assembly as “a monkey house”. A member cannot call’ the Commissioner of Police, “the Chief Goonda of the State”. No one member can say of another that he was prepared “to sell his soul” at a black-market price.
Marketing (March 2005 – Rajya Sabha)
“He has gone for marketing,” a Rajya Sabha member said, referring to a minister. The authorities found fault with the expression and termed it unparliamentary.
Garden full of weeds- December 2005
A Lok Sabha member was accused of using the expression improperly when during a discussion on December 9, 2005, he described the government as a “garden full of weeds.”
Can’t make remarks against heads of friendly states (2005, Lok Sabha)
During a Lok Sabha debate in the winter session of 2005, a member went after US president George Bush and his war on terror. “America created terrorism in the world. American president Bush is the greatest terror of the world,” he said. The speech invited sanctions.
Agent- 2004, Rajya Sabha
In 2004, a Rajya Sabha member was reminded that using the term ‘agent’ for an MP was unparliamentary.
Pappu, Feku- MP assembly, 2021
The words figured in a dictionary of sorts given to Mdhya Pradesh legislators in 2021 to make them aware of what words to avoid.