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India Shia board discuss mob lynching, press for strict laws

SHAFAQNA- The All India Shia Personal Law Board will hold elaborate discussions on the need to have strict laws pertaining to mob lynching in its annual meeting scheduled for July 28 here, outlookindia reported.

“The one-day annual meeting of the All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB) will be held in Lucknow on July 28, and a demand will be made to the state government to frame strict laws pertaining to mob lynching,” AISPLB spokesperson Maulana Yasoob Abbas said Sunday.

Referring to the mob lynching incidents reported from various parts of the country, he said members of a particular community are being targeted by the attackers.

“The Shia community is of the view that strict laws are needed to curb this and even capital punishment be awarded,” Abbas said.

The meeting is also likely to deliberate upon how the Shia community is being “ignored” by successive governments, he said.

“The All India Shia Personal Law Board wants that a committee be constituted on the lines of the Sachchar Committee to study the economic, social and educational situation of Shias,” Abbas said, adding Shia Muslims are minorities among the minorities.

Of the total population of the country, the Shias constitute 5 per cent, he said.

Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has made a big statement about mob lynchings. When asked about the recent cases of lynchings in India, Naqvi said most of these cases are concocted and fake.

Naqvi was replying to India Today’s question on Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan’s controversial statement who had said that Muslims are still serving the sentence after 1947.

Khan said, “If Muslims went to Pakistan, they would not get this punishment. Why our ancestors did not go to Pakistan? They regarded India as their own country. Now they will be punished and they will have to endure.”

Criticising Naqvi, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala told India Today, “I respect Naqvi ji but does he even know what is happening with minority in this country?”

“BJP doesn’t feel anything for the minorities. Everyone in the ruling party is trying to shield the culprits”, Surjewala added.

Meanwhile, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar sought to play down the killing of a Muslim man and two tribal persons by a mob in Saran district, saying it should not be seen as a case of “mob lynching” as the three men “had been caught stealing cattle”.

Almost 43 per cent of all cases of harassment of minorities and Dalits, taken up by NHRC, were registered in Uttar Pradesh alone. This includes cases of lynching.

Between 2016 and 2019, NHRC registered 2,008 cases where minorities/Dalits were harassed. Of these, Uttar Pradesh alone accounted for 869 cases.

The Uttar Pradesh Law Commission has also submitted a draft Bill recommending up to life imprisonment for mob lynching crimes, indiatoday mentioned.

Reportedly, five people have been beaten dead recently and 10 hurt including several policemen and four mentally challenged persons. Even a mother who had gone to a school to inquire about the admission process was beaten to death, suspected of being a child kidnapper. It is abhorrent and disgusting to see people falling victims of public lynching in several parts of the country over a period of several days. While there cannot be any scope or ground or justification for resorting to mob “justice, thedailystar told.

Last mounth, The brutal lynching of a young Muslim man in India has become an object of national attention after a video of the incident went viral, prompting nearly a dozen arrests, and an investigation into a potential cover-up.

The victim’s family showed them the video of the incident that was already spreading rapidly online. The disturbing 10-minute-long clip shows 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari being beaten with sticks by at least a dozen people while tied to a pole.

Ansari was allegedly caught by civilians during an attempted robbery in Jharkhand, a state in eastern India, at which point a mob formed to take measures into their own hands.

After forcing Ansari to reveal his name, the assailants demanded that he repeat the phrase “Jai Shri Ram” (Hail Lord Ram), which has recently come to be associated with Hindu nationalist movements. The abuse was carried out in the open; people can be heard laughing in the background and children are present at the scene.

Police say that the mob tortured the young man for 12 hours before turning him in. After being refused immediate medical care, he later died as a result of his injuries, RT reported.