The Diamond Harbour MP and Trinamul Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had asked the minister of home affairs some pertinent questions regarding measures to curb communalism. He asked if the Centre has implemented any concrete measures to enforce the 10-year moratorium on communalism; (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; (c) the details of percentage of increase/decrease of hate crimes including mob assaults, lynchings and attacks on minorities since 2014; and (d) the steps taken by the government to prevent such incidents and ensure accountability along with the data related to these crimes?
The questions were answered by Nityanand Rai, minister of state of home affairs on Tuesday. From a) to (d): ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are state subjects as per the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. State governments are responsible for maintenance of public order as well as prevention, detection, registration and investigation of crime and for prosecuting the criminals through their law enforcement agencies to ensure peace and harmony in the society. However, the ministry of home affairs have issued advisories to states and UTs, from time to time, to maintain law and order and to ensure that any person who takes law into his/her own hands is punished promptly as per law. Further, Sub-Section 2 of Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 provides punishment of death or imprisonment for life for the offence of mob-lynching.
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes statistical data on crimes in its publication ‘Crime in India’. Published reports are available till the year 2022.