Will bring law against lynching if need be: Rajnath Singh
New Delhi, July 24 : 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 it.
"I 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 Rajasthan's Alwar.
Rajnath 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 Gandhi.
"But, the incidents of lynching should not be politicised. The Supreme Court has also given its observations on lynchings," he said.
The Home Minister said the government on Monday set up a high-level committee and a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by him to check mob lynchings and suggest measures to stop mob violence in the country.
He said the Home Secretary-led committee would give its recommendations to the Group of Ministers within four weeks.
"After 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 years.
In the officials committee to be headed by Home Secretary R.K. Gauba, the Secretaries of the Departments of Justice, Legal Affairs, Legislative and Social Justice and Empowerment will also be members.
External 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 GoM.
The GoM will submit their recommendations to the Prime Minister.
During 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 lynchings.
Referring 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 Ahuja)."
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan interrupted and said no allegations should be levelled as the investigation was on.
"Since 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 high-level committees," he added.
Deputy 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 incidents.
CPI(M) MP Mohammed Salim said a trend of mob justice on the streets is increasing based on rumours, cow protection or child-lifting.
"Such an environment has been created in the country for the past 10-12 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 Hindu-Muslim issue or a matter of cow protection, even Swami Agnivesh was attacked.
"If 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 Salim.
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Unruly scenes witnessed in Punjab Assembly
Chandigarh (PTI): The Punjab Assembly on Friday witnessed high drama on Friday after Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira made an allegedly objectionable remark against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during an intense argument over the alleged use of mobile phone in the house by the legislator.
During the one-day special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha here, Mann accused Khaira of using a mobile phone when Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan was reading out an official resolution on the revision of wages.
After rising from his seat, the chief minister pointed to the speaker, claiming that Khaira is busy on his mobile phone and urged him to ask the Congress MLA what Sandhwan had said about the resolution.
The speaker then asked Khaira to maintain order in the house and listen to the resolution carefully.
Mann then asked Khaira, "Why don't you go out and then use it (mobile phone)," which led to a strong verbal altercation during which the opposition MLA hurled an accusation against the chief minister. Meanwhile, the speaker appealed for order and insisted that the chair be addressed.
However, both Mann and Khaira continued arguing and could be seen pointing fingers at each other as the proceedings of the house were disrupted.
The AAP MLAs also rose from their seats with Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema condemning Khaira for his conduct and demanded action against him.
Cheema further alleged that Khaira "always tries to disturb the house" as he spoke about his conduct in the assembly.
The incident occurred as an official resolution on the revision of wages was presented at the special session by Labour Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond who said it paid homage to labourers on the International Workers' Day.
"Workers are the axis of construction of the nation, the community, the state and society. Every construction project succeeds only through their blood and sweat," the resolution read.
As per the resolution, "The base rate of minimum wages for the working class in Punjab was last revised in the year 2012. Although the dearness allowance has continued to increase since 2012, there has been no increase in the base rate of minimum wages.
On this sacred occasion of May Day, in this special session of the legislative assembly, this house proposes to revise and increase the minimum wages of labourers and strongly recommends to the government to take a decision regarding the increase of minimum wages for workers, so that the contributions of the workers can be acknowledged." PRK
