Rajnath silences critics with ‘minority report’

Recent attacks on religious places led to a verbal clash in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, with home minister Rajnath Singh seeking to blunt the Opposition onslaught by expressing readiness to table a detailed statement to show how many such incidents had taken place in which regime.

“If I get permission, I am ready to table a fullfledged statement on the floor of the House to show how many attacks had taken place on churches and other religious places under whose regime,” Mr Singh said, seeing a “deliberate attempt” to repeatedly raise incidents of communal violence anywhere in the country in Parliament.

His remarks on “deliberate attempt” to repeatedly raise the issue in Parliament angered a section of the opposition, with the Congress, IUML and Left parties staging a walkout.

His statement came during Zero Hour in response to K.C. Venugopal (Congress) who expressed concern over the rising attacks on churches and other religious places in different parts of the country.

“Targeting minority community institutions has become the order of the day... It is a highly dangerous trend,” Mr Venugopal said, regretting that this was hap- pening despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurances to provide protection to the minorities.

He also referred to some controversial remarks by a general secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha.

The home minister said it was the government’s thinking to see that a sense of confidence develops in the minorities and to provide security to them so that everyone can practise his faith without fear.