Opposition Teams Up to Push Anti-Lynching Bill in Parliament

Members of SP, BSP and Congress drafted the Manav Suraksha Kanoon (MASUKA) bill.

Citizens hold placards during a silent protest “ Not in My Name “ against the targeted lynching, in Bengaluru. 

Several opposition parties are advocating a bill to deal with incidents of mob lynching which, they claimed, are on the rise.

The draft of Manav Suraksha Kanoon (MASUKA) has been prepared by a group which includes members of the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

It has provisions of holding accountable the police station house in-charge under whose jurisdiction the crime has taken place.

There has been a rise in number of mob lynching cases by cow vigilantes across the country, specially in the BJP-ruled states, the leaders alleged.

They cited cases of Pehlu Khan, a diary owner in Rajasthan who was allegedly killed by cow vigilantes this year, and Mohammad Akhlaq of Uttar Pradesh, who also met the same fate in 2015, on the suspicion that he was consuming beef.

Senior Congress leader and AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh demanded that the MASUKA law should have provisions to book those spreading hate on social media.

Emphasising on the need to have a strong law to deal with mob lynching, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor claimed such incidents have been taking place at regular intervals.

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who also supported the need for a separate legislation to deal with cases of mob lynching, said the Delhi Assembly had passed a resolution condemning such incidents.

Asked whether states where opposition parties are in power should adopt such a legislation, CPI-M's M B Rajesh responded in affirmative.

He also emphasised on the need for all opposition parties to push this bill in Lok Sabha.

Former Union minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid supported the demand to have a legislation to curb the cases of mob lynching, asserting that a special law is needed to deal with specific type of incidents.

Tehseen Poonawalla, a Congress supporter and a member of the group that drafted the bill, said a copy of the proposed MASUKA law has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office.