Alwar killing rocks Parliament

New Delhi: The lynching of 55-year-old Pehlu Khan in Alwar by cow vigilantes rocked Parliament on Thursday with the Opposition in Rajya Sabha demanding sacking of the Vasundhara Raje-led Rajasthan government.

Describing the incident as a “shocking breakdown of law and order”, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS, saying there is no place in the country for those disagreeing with them.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh, however, defended the Rajasthan government in the Lok Sabha, saying it has taken cognisance of the incident and action as per the law would be taken.

In the Rajya Sabha, deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien asked the government to probe the entire matter and inform the House about the facts after the Opposition alleged that the state government is not fulfilling its constitutional obligation and there is a “complete breakdown of the constitutional machinery” in the BJP-ruled state.

In another development, the Rajasthan police arrested three men accused in the case and teams have been sent on a hunt for the other accused. “All right-thinking Indians must condemn this blind brutality. When government abdicates responsibility and allows lynch mobs to rule, tragedies of immense proportion follow,” Mr Gandhi tweeted.

Raising the issue in Rajya Sabha, Congress’s Madhusudan Mistry said there was a “complete breakdown of law and order” in Rajasthan as “gangs of gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes)” have been operating in the state and stopping trucks and vans without fear for law.

As the din continued, minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi rejected the allegations, and said it was a very sensitive issue but “no such incident has happened, the way the matter is being presented here.”

“A message should not be sent out that the House supports cow slaughter,” he said, and added that “the state government has refuted (the allegations). We do not justify hooliganism.”

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the minister of being “so ill-informed” and the government of being “insensitive” after mentioning that even a foreign publication had reported the incident.