All in a name

The word "Godse", as in the name Nathuram Godse, is unparliamentary. Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP P Rajeev discovered as much during a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on religious conversions. Rajeev raised the issue of the Vishva Hindu Parishad planning to erect statues of Godse, the man who shot and killed Mahatma Gandhi. Later, while checking the transcript of his speech, Rajeev found that the word "Godse" had been expunged. Godse is one of the hundreds of words listed in a manual, "Unparliamentary Expressions", which contains words and expressions declared unparliamentary in the Constituent Assembly, Central Legislative Assembly, Provisional Parliament, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and so on. "Fascist" and "nuisance" are among the words that also find a mention in the handbook. The revelation that "Godse" is unparliamentary has unwittingly thrust first-time Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MP from Nashik, Hemant Tukaram Godse, into the limelight.