Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir on Thursday said that incidents of lynching were not "general" and asked the states to take strong action against the culprits.
Intervening in the debate on an increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and Dalits across the country in the Rajya Sabha, Ahir said that the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is neither anti-Dalit nor anti-Muslim as was being alleged by the opposition leaders.
"Incidents of lynching are not general. Some anti-social elements in the name of the 'holy cow' are trying to damage the social fabric of the country and states need to act hard against those. Advisories in this regard have already been issued to states. Our Prime Minister has also stated his views on such issues," Ahir said.
The Minister also said that there were no actual figures of the incidents of lynching as records are not maintained.
"If such incidents happen in the name of region and language we maintain a record but no record is maintained for incidents of lynching in the name of cow," he said.
Ahir said that the Modi government is neither anti-Dalit nor anti-Muslim.
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"Our government believes in principles of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas'," he said, listing the decisions of the government taken in favour of Dalits and Muslims.
--IANS
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