The Opposition, led by Congress, raised a din in the Rajya Sabha on Friday demanding an apology from Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi for having denied on Thursday the incident of lynching of a man by ‘gau rakshaks’(cow vigilantes) in Rajasthan. The Government was also charged with ‘undermining’ the Upper House as Home Minister Rajnath Singh was yet to clear the air on the incident.
Rejecting the charge, Naqvi said the Home Minister will make a statement on Monday and tried to clarify that he had stated on Thursday that no incident of cow vigilantes indulging in violence had taken place in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh as claimed by Congress member Madhusudan Mistry. The Minister also said the Rajasthan Government had registered a FIR and investigating the matter adding “We do not justify anarchy and hooliganism.”
However, the Congress was in no mood to oblige the Government and some members rushed into the well of the House demanding an apology from Naqvi for ‘misleading’ the House. Sharp exchanges were witnessed between Deputy Chairman P J Kurien and some senior Congress members when he tried to restore order and said the Minister has presented the facts.
Intervening, leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Home Minister had made a statement in lok Sabha on Thursday and the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs should have fulfilled his duty by informing Singh that the issue was also raised in the Upper House so that he could have made a statement on Thursday itself. “It is unjust... Every day they are undermining Rajya Sabha,” Azad said.
When Naqvi said Singh was travelling to Andaman and Nicobar, Azad said Minister of State for Home could have given a statement and said the Government should take the Rajya Sabha ‘seriously.’
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last year spoken tough words for cow vigilantes but actions on ground seem to suggest that BJP workers have been given a free hand.
Alleging that the Government was trying to hush up the Rajasthan incident, Azad said while a person accused of slapping someone is remanded to 14-day police custody but in this case, the alleged culprits who had murdered a person were remanded to just one day custody.
Terming the issue as ‘sensitive,’ Naqvi said “It required careful handling and criminals should not be looked from the prism of religion, otherwise a wrong message will go out, disturbing peace and harmony.”