Hyderabad: The Congress party on Saturday demanded that the Telangana Government enact a new legislation to prevent incidents like mob lynching and other hatred crimes in the State.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Minorities Department Chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail, in a media statement, strongly condemned the Telangana Government for not acting on the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court to prevent mob lynching. “While it is heartening to note that Telangana, so far, is among a few States in the country with zero incidents of mob lynching, we regret to say that Telangana is among a few States in the country which did not implement the Supreme Court orders to prevent mob lynching incidents in future,” he said.
Sohail reminded that the Supreme Court, on July 17, 2018, had issued omnibus directions to all States in the country regarding Preventive, Remedial and Punitive measures in respect of mob lynching. The Supreme Court also mooted a special law to deal with mob lynching. It also suggested the appointment of a Nodal Officer in every district, creation of Special Task Force to collect intelligence about hate speeches, fake news which could lead to mob lynching, compensation scheme for lynch victims, etc.,
Subsequently, on July 23, 2018, the Union Home Ministry has written a letter to the Chief Secretaries and Director General of Police of all States and Union Territories asking them to ensure that their law enforcement agencies to implement the directions of the Supreme Court in letter and spirit. The Union Home Minister had also sought a detailed report on the action taken in the matter, he said.
Again on September 24, 2018, the Supreme Court had passed a categorical order, directing the States to comply with the directions within a month. As reported in the media, a bench headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra took note of the fact that eight states including Mizoram, Telangana, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi are yet to file reports indicating the compliance of its July 17 verdict giving a slew of directions to deal with mob violence and cow vigilantism, he said.
“It is highly regrettable that Telangana was among the States which did not file reports before the Supreme Court or the Union Home Ministry explaining the measures it took to implement the orders of the Apex Court. Therefore, we urge the State Government to make public announcement of measures taken to combat incidents of mob lynching. This will instil confidence and a feeling of safety and security among common people besides sending a stern warning to those who are intending to disturb peace and tranquillity,” Sohail said.
Sohail said people of Telangana were truly secular by nature and highly tolerant by character. “They are repulsive to hate mongering and don’t easily get influenced with provocative content in any form. However, we some sporadic incidents of violence wherein youth belonging to minority community were attacked by miscreants are of serious concern. A few people, with malafide intentions, have been making repeated attempts to spread hatred so as to incite communal violence in Telangana. They are misusing the social media by sharing irrelevant, but provocative videos, audio, pictures, etc., Therefore, there is an urgent need to take appropriate steps to prevent incidents like mob lynching in our Telangana State,” he said.
The Congress leader urged the Telangana Government to implement the orders issued by the Supreme Court, in letter and spirit, by taking Preventive, Remedial and Punitive measures on immediate basis. (NSS)
