Two versions have been brought to the notice of the Chair. If the incident has happened, then it is serious: PJ Kurien
Facing different versions about the incident of killing of a man by a mob of cow vigilantes in Alwar district of Rajasthan, the Rajya Sabha on Thursday asked the government to inquire into the matter and put true facts before the House.
Caught amid a barrage of contradictory statements on the incident from treasury benches and the Opposition, deputy chairman, PJ Kurien said, "Two versions have been brought to the notice of the Chair. If the incident has happened, then it is serious. But, if the incident has not happened and has been narrated here as if it has happened, it is serious then too."
"I am asking the minister to convey to the Home Minister the need to inquire into it and report to the House. I want to know the truth."
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge also raised the matter in the Lok Sabha.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured Lok Sabha members that the Centre will ensure justice in the case and is inquiring about the incident from the Rajasthan government.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Mistry said there was a "complete breakdown of law and order" in Rajasthan as "a gang of gau-rakshaks (cow vigilantes)" stopped a truck carrying cattle and mercilessly thrashed four of its occupants after letting off the Hindu truck driver. One of them succumbed to injuries later.
As members of other Opposition parties supported him, Mistry demanded dismissal of the Rajasthan government adding that similar incidents were taking place in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and, Uttar Pradesh, all ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Rejecting the allegations, junior minister for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said it was a very sensitive issue, but "no such incident has happened, the way the matter is being presented here."
Despite being asked by the Chair to sit down, Naqvi went on and said, "A message should not be sent out that the House supports cow slaughter…the state government has refuted the allegations. We do not justify hooliganism."
Hitting back at the Leader of Opposition from Congress, Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "I am extremely sorry that the minister is so ill-informed. Even the New York Times has reported it, every newspaper has reported it, but the minister does not know...I have not come across such an insensitive government".
Outside Parliament, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi described the incidents akin to government abdicating its responsibility.
"When the government abdicates responsibility and allows lynch mobs to rule, tragedies of immense proportion follow. Shocking breakdown of law and order in Alwar," he said in a Twitter post.
"We expect the government to take strict action against those responsible for this brutal and senseless attack," he said, adding that "all right thinking Indians must condemn this blind brutality."
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