Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday welcomed Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's letter to state chief ministers not to detain innocent Muslim youth wrongfully, and added that no state government can oppose such a direction if the Centre has a strong mindset.
"We have always been taking this issue up of hundreds of innocent people; especially the minorities have been languishing in the jail. The Central Government has to take the first step. If the Central Government has a strong mindset on this, then no state government can oppose it," he said.
The Congress Party, echoing similar sentiments, said innocent people should not be harassed from any community.
"Agree with Shindeji, I think innocents should not be harassed, be it of any community," Congress leader Rashid Alvi.
Earlier in the day, Shinde asked chief ministers of all states to avoid detaining innocent Muslim youth wrongfully.
Shinde said the Central Government has been receiving representations about alleged harassment of innocent Muslim youth by law enforcement agencies, and added that there is a growing feeling of alienation in the community.
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"Minority youth have started feeling that they are deliberately targeted and deprived of their basic rights," he added.
"Government has to ensure that no innocent person is subjected to undue harassment," he told the chief ministers.
He urged state governments to set up special courts in consultation with the concerned high court for trial of terror-related cases, appoint special public prosecutors for trial of these cases and give priority to terror cases over other pending cases.
Shinde said law enforcement agencies should be satisfied with regard to communal and social harmony while ensuring zero tolerance for terrorism.
He also called for strict and prompt action against erring police officers.
In May, the central government has set up the 39 special courts under the NIA Act to take up terror-related cases.