Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured Rajya Sabha on Wednesday of strict action against persons or organisations inciting communal passions or riots as per law and regardless of political affiliations. His reiteration came when some Elders expressed concern over some religious outfits giving hate speeches. Making the Government’s stand clear, Singh said strict action will be taken against “whoever breaks communal harmony and a “befitting response” to people who try to disturb communal
harmony. At the same time, he said “health” of communal harmony cannot be measured on the basis of number of incidents. This statement came after some elders including Digvijay Singh(Congress) and Jharna Das Baidya(BJD) did not agree with Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju’s reply that communal incidents have come down by 22 per cent in the last few months of the year 2014 from October to December 2014. As per the information provided in the House, 72 communal incidents were reported in October, 49 in November and 33 in December. But the incidents increased to 72 in January 2015.
Singh said he was not taking credit for decrease in the number of communal incidents or criticising the previous UPA Government for the increase during its regime. Responding to a query by leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad about steps taken to prevent communal flare ups, the Minister said the issue is sensitive and the Government’s firm conviction is to deal with perpetrators firmly according to law.
When a member referred to attacks on churches and violence in Trilokpuri area of Delhi last year, Rijiju said whether those were communal or not would be known only after investigation. As per the data, three communal incidents took place in Delhi in October 2014, and no other incident took place in the following months through January 2015. To related queries, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already denounced communal statements and urged for restraint. The Minister of State also said he himself was a “minority” and assured members that there would be no discrimination on the basis of religion.
Replying to a question on improving working conditions of women in police forces, Rijiju said the Government has asked all Union Territories to increase the strength of women police personnel to 33 per cent. However, police is a State subject and States have to implement reforms and welfare measures, he said adding the Centre advises the states from time to time to bring in requisite reforms in the police administration.