Criminals have no religion, says Naqvi on cow vigilantism
Remark came day after he denied incident
Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday said the alleged lynching of a man in Rajasthan by cow vigilantes should not be viewed from a religious point of view as “criminals are just criminals”.
The comment came a day after he denied the incident occurred.
The opposition raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha amid noisy scenes for the second day in a row, seeking an apology from Naqvi for misleading the House on Thursday.
Naqvi assured the House that home minister Rajnath Singh was likely to make a statement over the incident on Monday. “A criminal, a murderer, a hooligan should not be looked at as a Hindu or a Muslim. A criminal is a criminal,” Naqvi said.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad demanded Naqvi’s apology for “misleading the House” and also sought action against the self-styled “gau rakshaks” who were harassing and killing people in the name of cow protection.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge raised the matter in the Lok Sabha while party colleague Madhusudan Mistry raised it in the Rajya Sabha.
Mistry said the self-styled ‘gau rakshaks’ were harassing and killing people in the name of cow protection.
“The cow vigilante gang acted as if they have some extra-constitutional powers. They checked trucks to see if there were cows or calves — and if the owner was Hindu, they let them go,” he said.
“It is being done by an organised gang. Such gangs are present in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat; and now, they are in Uttar Pradesh. It is a complete breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state,” Mistry said as he was supported by other opposition leaders.
Congress MPs gathered near the chairman’s podium, demanding an adjournment. However, deputy chairman PJ Kurien, presiding over the proceedings, rejected the demand.
“One gets 14-day remand for slapping. But in this Rajasthan case, the accused was freed after a day. This government should take this House seriously,” Azad said. “This is undermining the position of Rajya Sabha. Since the Alwar issue was raised yesterday, the home minister should have come today.”