The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated on Saturday that a technical correction is underway to attribute the response to the Parliament question on Hamas to Union Minister V Muraleedharan instead of Meenakshi Lekhi, as originally indicated in a document. Both Lekhi and Muraleedharan serve as ministers of state in the Ministry of External Affairs. The clarification was issued after a document incorrectly listed Lekhi as the one answering questions related to whether India plans to declare Hamas a terror group.
Following the dissemination of the document, Lekhi denied having signed the reply to the Parliament question, tagging Union Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and the Prime Minister's Office on her official X handle, stating, "You have been misinformed as I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer Dr S Jaishankar, PMO India."
In response to Lekhi's denial, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi released a statement acknowledging the need for a technical correction in the parliamentary record. The question in question, titled "Declaration of Hamas as a Terrorist Organisation," was posed by Congress MP Kumbakudi Sudhakaran. It sought information on whether the central government had any proposal to declare Hamas a terrorist organization in India and if the Israeli government had raised any such demands with the Centre.
The response clarified that the designation of an organization as a terrorist entity is covered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and any declaration is made following the provisions of the Act by the relevant government departments. The answer to the question was initially attributed to Meenakshi Lekhi, but the correction will appropriately credit V Muraleedharan as the Minister of State who replied to the Parliament Question.
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