Will bring law against lynching if need be: Rajnath Singh

Reiterating that 1984 Sikh riots was the biggest incident of lynching Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the central government is taking the incidents of lynching very seriously and might bring a law if necessary to stop itI want to make it clear that the government is not just concerned but has taken lynching incidents very seriously Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha after opposition members raised the issue days after a cattle farmer was killed allegedly by cow vigilantes in Rajasthans AlwarRajnath Singh said the biggest incident of lynching had occurred in 1984 when thousands of Sikhs were killed in the aftermath of the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira GandhiBut the incidents of lynching should not be politicised The Supreme Court has also given its observations on lynchings he saidThe Home Minister said the government on Monday set up a highlevel committee and a Group of Ministers GoM headed by him to check mob lynchings and suggest measures to stop mob violence in the countryHe said the Home Secretaryled committee would give its recommendations to the Group of Ministers within four weeksAfter deliberations we will take a decision as to what needs to be done to take strong action against the incidents of lynchings We will also bring a law if that is required he said adding that such incidents have been happening for the past many yearsIn the officials committee to be headed by Home Secretary RK Gauba the Secretaries of the Departments of Justice Legal Affairs Legislative and Social Justice and Empowerment will also be membersExternal Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot are members of the GoMThe GoM will submit their recommendations to the Prime MinisterDuring the discussion Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that the government should appoint a sitting Supreme Court judge to probe the incidents of lynchingsReferring to the Alwar lynching case Kharge said There was a direct involvement of police in the death of the victim Rakbar Khan The Gau Rakhshaks who lynched the victim were followers of the local MLA Ramgarh MLA Gyan Dev AhujaLok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan interrupted and said no allegations should be levelled as the investigation was onSince the state Rajasthan government is not responding we demand that the Centre should also appoint a sitting Supreme Court judge to probe the incidents of lynchings apart from the highlevel committees he addedDeputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambi Durai said even though law and order is a state subject the states need the support of the Centre to modernise the police staff in order to tackle such incidentsCPIM MP Mohammed Salim said a trend of mob justice on the streets is increasing based on rumours cow protection or childliftingSuch an environment has been created in the country for the past 1012 years and the situation is worsening We need to accept the fact Such incidents of hatred are spreading across the country and it is very dangerous It is not just a HinduMuslim issue or a matter of cow protection even Swami Agnivesh was attackedIf we garland the convicts in mob lynching case and protect them such incidents are also happening in West Bengal and Tripura which had never occurred earlier said SalimCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever