The Modi government has ‘gagged’ the Parliament from asking questions during the upcoming Monsoon Session. Though, after a massive hue and cry, it has allowed unstarred questions (which can be answered with written responses and ministers need not orally answer them in the House) to be asked. But no supplementary questions can be asked. So if a response is evasive or unsatisfactory, well, bad luck.
India’s Opposition called it a “murder of democracy in the name of a pandemic.” Many autocratic regimes have used this pandemic as a chance to grab even more power and escape accountability. While MPs have their most important privilege curtailed inside Parliament, the people of India are also facing a similar situation.