Face of Nation : The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday rejected claims made by the film fraternity in an open letter to PM Modi raising concerns about the rising incidents of intolerance and lynching in the country.
Responding to film fraternity’s charge that India was fast losing its image of being a secular and tolerant nation, the MHA said there is no such report and no factual basis for such a statement. The government said that it was committed to uphold constitutional values and rule of law in the country.
MHA further said that there have been very fewer incidents of communal violence in the country and the nation does not witness curfew-like situations anymore.
Speaking on the matter in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Kishan Reddy said that Centre has “zero tolerance” towards incidents of communal violence and such incidents have shown a declining trend across the country.
Replying to a query during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, the minister said incidents of communal violence have declined to 708 in 2018 from 823 in 2013.
“The incidents of communal violence show a declining trend”, he said. He said imposition of curfew used to be common earlier but now this is not the case.
However, hitting out at the government, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad raised the issue of mob lynching to which MoS Home Reddy responded saying there is no set pattern of lynching in the country. States like West Bengal and Kerala have also witnessed cases of lynching, Reddy added.
Earlier in an open letter to PM Modi by 49 eminent personalities including — filmmakers, actors, authors, activists, artists, professionals — have raised concern over lynching incidents and rising violence over the chanting of slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in the country. The celebrities requested the Prime Minister that this must be stopped immediately.
In their open letter which has been signed by celebrities including Anurag Kashyap, Mani Ratnam, Konkona Sen Sharma, Anuradha Kapoor, Adoor Gopalkrishnan, others requested PM Modi that lynching of Muslims, Dalits, other minorities must be stopped and strong action should be taken against the culprits.
Further, the film fraternity had asked the Prime Minister that anyone who raises voice against the ruling party or government should not be branded as anti-national or urban-Naxal.
