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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Resolution seeking removal of Om Birla as Speaker defeated by voice vote in Lok Sabha
New Delhi (PTI): The resolution seeking the removal of Om Birla as Speaker was on Wednesday defeated in Lok Sabha by a voice vote.
Amid protests and sloganeering by the opposition seeking an apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Jagdambika Pal, who was in the chair, announced that the no-confidence motion was defeated.
Pal urged the opposition to take their seats so that he could put the motion to vote. But as the protests continued, he sought the vote of the House and the resolution was rejected by a voice vote, following which he adjourned the House for the day.
Earlier, the home minister hit out at the opposition for bringing the motion for the removal of Birla as Speaker.
The opposition objected to certain remarks of Shah and started shouting slogans, disrupted the proceedings and sought an apology from him.
Responding to the two-day-long debate, Shah asserted that the House will be run by its own rules and not by the rules of a party.
"It is not an ordinary occurrence as after nearly four decades, such a motion has been brought against the speaker," he said.
The home minister said it was unfortunate for parliamentary politics that some opposition parties were questioning the integrity of the speaker.
Shah said the BJP has been in the opposition for the longest period of time, but the party has never brought a no-confidence motion against any speaker.
"According to the established history of this House, its proceedings are conducted on the basis of mutual trust. The speaker serves as a neutral custodian, representing both the ruling party and the opposition. It is unfortunate for parliamentary politics that a resolution for the removal of the speaker has come," he said.
Shah said the opposition raised questions on Birla's integrity and contended that it was akin to questioning the country's democratic processes.
Birla was not present in the House during the entire period of the debate.
