Congress MP K Sudhakaran says his question on 'rising communalism' was disallowed in Parliament

Congress MP K Sudhakaran on Wednesday claimed that his question to the Prime Minister on "rising communalism" and the National Security Council’s (NSC) threat assessment of the recent controversy over wearing religious garments like hijab by students was not allowed in the Parliament.

He said this is his second question that has been denied permission to be raised in Parliament.

Sudhakaran, also Congress's Kerala president, said the Speaker disallowed his question, which was to be answered on Wednesday. Sudhakaran sought to know about the National Security Council’s assessment of the threats to national unity and harmony from communalism in the short, medium, and long term.

He also wanted to know whether the NSC has been actively studying patterns of alienation arising out of communal and religious aspects and polarisation.

Sudhakaran said he will now submit notice to the Speaker to allow a half-an-hour discussion on the issue.

He said this is the second time that his question on communalism was disallowed during the ongoing Budget session.

Sudhakaran earlier this month wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking the reasons behind disallowing his question on details of cases of religion-based atrocities and hate crimes against minorities.

Sudhakaran had submitted the question addressed to the Ministry of Minority Affairs requesting data on religious and caste-based atrocities in the country.

His question came against the backdrop of National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) Crime in India 2020 report that spoke about 96 per cent rise in communal riots and 50 per cent rise in caste riots. It also said that crimes against Dalits had risen by 9.4 per cent and crime against tribals by 9.3 per cent.

In his letter, he had said that it was a matter of “grave concern affecting life and liberty and religious minorities in India” and sought reasons as to why his question was “disallowed” from being balloted on February 10, the procedure for selecting questions during the second leg of Budget Session.

The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha has set 23 conditions for admitting a question, including those on national security, sub judice matters, trivial matters and personal information. There were instances in recent times when the government disallowed questions on issues like Pegasus.

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