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The Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday, 2 August, said that between 2018 and 2020, a total of 4,794 people were arrested in offences connected with promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth etc.
The government's reply came in a series of questions asked by Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Mimi Chakraboty, including one in which she had sought to know, "The number of people arrested on charges of hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity by NIA, Delhi Police and other agencies in the country, during the last three years, State-wise."
Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 628 arrests in the three years, while Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh recoded 613, 552, and 387 arrests respectively.
Telangana, Gujarat and Rajasthan also saw a high number of cases that saw arrests. Comparatively, north-eastern states saw a substantially lower number of such cases.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir saw a total of 34 arrests in these three years, while 21 arrests were made from Delhi.
Recording the one of the lowest numbers among states, Goa saw only two arrests while Meghalaya recorded a single arrest on the ground of promoting enmity between groups within the time period.
Rai added that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) lodged 17 cases from 2017 to 29 July, 2022, based on charges of hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity.
Out of these 17 cases, the NIA registered a single case in 2017, four in 2018, two in 2019, three per year in 2020 and 2021, and four till 29 July 2022.
(With inputs from ANI)
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