In The Last Three Years 278 People Killed In The Name Of Religion: Govt

According to the data released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, 278 people were killed in 2,098 communal incidents in different parts of the country since the BJP-led government came to power, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

How the states fared?

Hansraj Ahir, Minister of State for Home, said that the highest number of people killed were from Uttar Pradesh in 450 communal incidents in 2014-16. This resulted in 77 people dead, followed by Maharashtra where 270 such incidents were reported in which 32 people were killed. In Bihar, there were 197 incidents of communal violence in which 29 people were killed, and in poll-bound Karnataka, 26 people lost their lives in 279 such incidents.

Ahir also said that between 2014 and 2016, 24 people were killed in 200 communal incidents in Rajasthan and in Gujarat 21 people lost their lives in 182 such incidents.

Ministry of home affairs informed the Rajya Sabha that last year the number of communal incidents has reduced. 703 incidents of communal violence were reported in 2016 that killed 86 people.

Ahir also said that the number of such incidents was down from 751 in 2015 that led to 97 people being killed. However, from 2014 to 2015, there was an increase in such types of incidents leading to the death of 95 people.

Centre put in measures

“The Centre has issued Communal Harmony guidelines to all States/Union Territories, which among other things, lay down standard operating procedures to be put in place to deal with the situation arising out of the communal violence. These guidelines are aimed to maintain due vigilance, careful planning and preparatory measures which may prevent and pre-empt any possible incidents of communal violence,” the minister further said to PTI.

It may be noted that towards the end of UPA II tenure, there was a significant increase in the related communal violence due to the Muzaffarnagar riots. The data previously released by the Home Ministry suggested that from 2011 to 2015 (till Oct) a total of 3365 communal incidents occurred in the country. In 2013, the number of people killed was 133 around 823 related communal violence took place as against 2269 persons injured that year.

The Logical Indian Take

Throughout the country, increasing incidents of communal violence are seen as a result of the hatred being spread by the politicians as an agenda to secure vote banks. The government, of course, has the power and resources to prevent and curb such instances.

Lies and rumors are being spread through the social media platforms to mobilize people to participate in communal violence, it is their tool, and they are using it to achieve their unlawful goals at the cost of the lives of the innocent citizen.

The Logical Indian urges its community members to abstain from sharing any information that is not verified and might incite communal hatred.