PC: NSA use in cow slaughter is wrong

The decision of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh to invoke the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against three people arrested on charges of cow slaughter was wrong, Congress leader P Chidambaram said. The former Union finance minister claimed Congress President Rahul Gandhi has told the Kamal Nath government to correct the “mistake”.

The Madhya Pradesh Police has charged three people under the National Security Act for allegedly slaughtering cows, in Khandwa last week. People charged under the law can be detained for 12 months.

“I think the Congress president [Rahul Gandhi] has told the people concerned that was wrong,” he said. “Use of NSA in Madhya Pradesh was wrong. That has been pointed out to the government in Madhya Pradesh. So if a mistake has been committed, that mistake has been pointed out by the leadership.”

Chidambaram was speaking at an event where his book Undaunted–Saving The Idea of India was released.

Meanwhile, a Congress MLA has written to Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath demanding the setting up of an SIT and transfer of the Khandwa district collector for invoking the NSA. Bhopal Central MLA Arif Masood, in a letter on Friday, termed the NSA move as “onesided”, adding the kin of the three accused had met him and had alleged the collector had not heard their side.

In another development, on Saturday, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the party will not “unwarrantedly interfere” in the functioning of the state government in the matter as law and order is the domain of the CM and police.

Earlier, senior Congress leader and MP’s former CM Digvijaya Singh said NSA should not be imposed.