The word ‘lynching’ resonated well in the question hour of Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad raised the issue of lynching and said the government may have given its backing to the miscreants.

“Instances of lynching took place earlier as well. But nowadays, members of the ruling party or Sangh Parivar are involved in these lynchings,” Azad alleged.

Responding to the allegations, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Navi argued that the miscreants may not necessarily be gau rakshaks.

Naqvi said that the Centre condemns such incidents and the states should take stringent legal action against those involved. The cited the government’s concerns over such incidents and urged everyone to speak in one voice in the fight against “such destructive forces”.

Defending his government, he alleged that it’s a “conspiracy” that some are trying to “defame” the government and divert its agenda in the name of such incidents as they think they could level corruption charges on the government in the last three years.

Stressing on the issue that no arrests have been made so far, Azad said, “Earlier it was done at the individual level. You may not like it, all lynching is done by some members of the ruling party and Sangh Parivar, they should have been jailed. Even I can identify hundreds. They are known to the media”.

Refuting the Opposition charge that no action was taken against those involved in lynching incidents, he gave details of arrests made in Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra in the last six months.

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