Govt to enact law, if necessary, to curb lynchings: Rajnath

The government will enact a law, if necessary, to curb the incidents of lynching, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today amid Opposition outcry over the growing number of such cases.

Singh also said the government has taken the issue seriously and would look at taking stringent action against the culprits, as the ruling coalition faced a scathing attack from the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Left parties in the Lok Sabha over the rising cases of lynching.

Opposition members created a din during the Zero Hour and many of them rushed to the Well, as a visibily peeved Speaker Sumitra Mahajan allowed some of the leaders to raise the issue after papers were laid.

Responding to the concerns expressed by the members, Singh said the government would enact a law, if necessary, to curb the incidents of lynching.

On Monday, the Home Ministry announced setting up of two high-level committees to suggest ways and a legal framework to effectively deal with incidents of mob violence and lynching.

The committees were set up a week after the Supreme Court asked the central government to enact a law to deal with incidents of lynching and take action on mob violence.

Singh also said that lynching incidents have been happening for years and mentioned that the biggest lynchings happened in 1984 -- a remark that elicited strong protests from the Congress members.

In the latest incident, a 28-year-old man was lynched on suspicion of being a cow smuggler in Lalawandi village in Rajasthan's Alwar district on Saturday last.

As soon as the Zero Hour began, Opposition members, led by the Congress and the TMC, sought to raise certain issues and expressed unhappiness over not being given an opportunity.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge was heard saying it was "not a BJP house but the Lok Sabha."