New Delhi [India]: The government on Monday made a statement in the Lok Sabha correcting the name of the minister in the reply given on December 8 to a question concerning designation of Hamas.“I rise to lay a statement correcting the reply given on December 8, 2023, to unstarred question number 980 by Kumbakudi Sudhakaran, MP, regarding the declaration of Hamas as a terrorist organisation,” Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said in the House.The answer was corrected after Minister of State Meenakshi Lekhi responded in a post on X and referring to the query said she had “not signed any paper with this question and this answer”.The Ministry of External Affairs said on Saturday said that the answer needs a technical correction.‘”We have noted that Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 980 answered on 8 December 2023 needs a technical correction in terms of reflecting Shri V. Muraleedharan as the Minister of State replying to the Parliament Question. This is being suitably undertaken,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said responding to media queries.Congress MP K Sudhakaran had asked whether the government has any proposals to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation in India and whether the government of Israel has raised any demand to the Indian government to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation.
“Designation of an organisation as terrorist is covered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and declaring any organisation as terrorist is considered as per the provisions of the Act by the relevant government departments,” the government said in its answer.
