Dadri lynching communal: Home Ministry

New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry on Monday expressed concern over "various incidents with communal overtones" across the country and bracketed the “unfortunate” murder of a man over beef eating rumours under communal incidents.

However, Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma and other BJP leaders insisted that it should not be painted in communal hues.

The statement by the Home Ministry led by senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh came a week after the Dadri incident in which a 50-year-old man, Akhlaq, was killed and his son grievously injured in their house in Uttar Pradesh by a mob over rumours that the deceased had consumed beef.

“While law and order is basically a State subject, the Ministry of Home Affairs has been concerned with various incidents with communal overtones across the country, including the recent unfortunate incident at Dadri, UP,” the statement said.

The Ministry said an advisory had been issued



to the state governments that there shall be "zero tolerance towards any attempt to weaken the secular fabric of the nation and/or exploiting religious emotions or sentiments".

“MHA has called on the States to take strictest action as per law against such elements without any exception whatsoever," the statement added. Earlier, on October 1, the Ministry had sought a report on the Dadri incident from the state government of UP, and advised the latter to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

The Ministry's statement came even after Sharma's repeated assertions that it was an accident and one should not link it to communalism.

Even the Home Minister was quoted by PTI as saying on Sunday that it was not proper to give communal colour to it. "It was an unfortunate incident. But it is not proper to give communal colour to it," Singh was quoted as saying. He went on to say that no one should play politics using the incident.