JOIN USCongress MP questions Speaker why query on religious crimes was barred
Congress MP K Sudhakaran on Tuesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking reasons behind disallowing his question on details of cases of religion-based atrocities and hate crimes against minorities.
Sudhakaran, who is also Congress’ Kerala president, 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 a 96 per cent rise in communal riots and a 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.
“It is in this regard that I had asked the Minister for the number of religion-based atrocities in India and also the data on the number of people who have lost their lives in this regard, state-wise and year-wise from 2019 till date,” the MP from Kerala’s Kannur said in his letter. He had also sought data on hate crimes against minorities from 2019.
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Sudhakaran said 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 parliamentary procedures and conventions have become mere means to achieve the aims of the ruling party. The government spends too little time on democratic niceties. They neither exhibit the willingness to listen to dissenting voices nor give them a space in the public discourse. That itself is against the spirit of democracy,” Sudhakaran told DH.
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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