New Delhi: The central government has set up a four-member committee headed by union home secretary Rajiv Gauba to suggest measures and legal framework to effectively deal with incidents of mob violence and lynching.
The panel will submit its recommendations to a ministerial committee, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, within four weeks, the home ministry said on Monday. Apart from Singh, the group of ministers also comprises Sushma Swaraj, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Thawar Chand Gehlot.
The group of ministers will submit its findings directly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but no timeline has been announced for that.
"In order to formulate appropriate measures to address the situation, government has set up a high level committee headed by union home secretary to deliberate the matter and make recommendations," a government spokesperson said.
The Centre’s move has come after the Supreme Court had last week directed it to enact a law to deal with such cases. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had termed the incidents of lynching "horrendous acts of mobocracy".
Several cases of lynching and mob violence have been reported from across the country in the recent past, the latest being from Rajasthan where a man was beaten to death on Friday on suspicion of cow smuggling.
In the statement, the government said that it is committed to upholding the rule of law and adopting measures to curb such incidents as it has previously said in the Parliament as well. It also reiterated that law and order is a state subject and repeated advisories have been issued to states and UTs to curb mob violence in the name of cow protection.
A top home ministry official also told CNN-News18 that the Centre has asked Rajasthan government for a report on the Alwar lynching.
The Narendra Modi government has also come under attack from the Opposition, which has questioned its sincerity in tackling the recent spate of mob violence.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted to target PM Modi on the lynching incidents on Monday, saying this his "brutal 'New India'" where hatred rules and "people are crushed and left to die".
Other opposition leaders too questioned the comments made by home minister Rajnath Singh on Friday in Lok Sabha when he said that the biggest mob lynching happened during the anti-sikh riots of 1984.
"These incidents are happening in BJP ruled states because of political patronage," CPI MP D Raja told CNN-News18. Raja has given a notice for adjournment in Rajya Sabha to discuss the lynching issue.
NCP leader Majid Memon said that police has been asked to turn a blind eye in these incidents. "It is now emerging that police (in Alwar) wasted precious time in trying to take the cow to a shelter home than take the lynching victim to a doctor, this is shameful," he said.
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