Indian Minister denies signing papers declaring Hamas a ‘terrorist’ organisation

Indian Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi has denied signing any document related to declaring Gaza-based Palestinian outfit Hamas a terrorist organisation in India.

Her response came after a picture of a purported document declaring Hamas as a terrorist organisation was shared by journalists and users on social media.

In the purported document, an ‘unstarred’ question was asked by Congress MP K Sudhakaran on Friday whether the Government of India was planning to declare Hamas as a terrorist organisation and if Israel has raised any such demand before it.

The answer attributed to Lekhi read, “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.”