New Delhi: Meenakshi Lekhi, India's Minister of State for External Affairs, has denied signing any document designating Hamas, the military group that rules the Gaza Strip, as a terrorist organisation in the country or agreeing to a request by the Israeli government for India to do so.
The Minister requested an investigation on X, formerly known as Twitter when her name was included in a document questioning the above on the Ministry of External Affairs website.
She tweeted, “You have been misinformed as I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer @DrSJaishankar @PMOIndia.” In another tweet, she mentioned that the culprit will be revealed soon.
K. Sudhakaran, a member of the Loksabha, posed the question, which can be seen on the MEA website. The answer has been signed by Ms. Lekhi but it doesn’t provide a direct reply but states designating a body as a terrorist is under UAPA.
The Home Ministry, not the External Affairs Ministry, is the ministry in charge of handling it.
Relevant Ministries respond to inquiries from Members of both Houses. The same is posted on the websites of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and ministry.
During Question Hour, certain questions—also referred to as starred questions—are asked on the House floor. The member may be allowed to ask other questions by the chair as well. That was an unstarred question in this instance.