Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Express photo by Rohit Jain Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Express photo by Rohit Jain

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday told Parliament that no incident, as reported in the media, took place in Alwar, Rajasthan. Naqvi was responding to Congress MP Madhusudan Mistry’s statement that cow safety volunteers or gau rakshaks had attacked vehicles transporting cattle and killed a man, besides injuring several others.

This is what Naqvi said in Rajya Sabha today:

“Hamare desh mein yeh message nahi jana chahiye ki hum yeh hatya ko samarthan kar raha hai… issliye it is a very sensitive issue.. crore logo ke bhavnao se judha hua mudha hai.. hamara aisa koi message nahi jana chahiye ki hum hatiya ke samarthan mein khade hue hai (This issue is a very sensitive issue. There should be no indication or message that we are backing those who are violent. It’s an emotional issue for crores of people.)

Issliye jis particular state ki barein mein jo baat kar rahe hai, us tarah ki koi bhi ghatna, jis tarah ki ghatna pesh ki ja rahi hai, aise koi ghatna zameen par nahi hui hai. Jis media report ki barein mein bat ki ja rahi hai, us state ki sarkar ne pehle hi condemn kiya hai. (No such incident, as being reported, has taken place on the ground. The media report which are being cited, the concerned state government has already condemned.)”

Responding to Naqvi, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said: “I am extremely sorry that the minister is so ill-informed. Even the New York Times knows and the minister doesn’t know.”

Terming the matter serious in nature, deputy chairman PJ Kurien said he was not convinced by both sides and he asked Naqvi to ask Home Minister Rajnath Singh to submit a report to the House. “I cannot go by media reports,” Kurien said.

Earlier, as the House convened, Opposition MPs demanded that the deputy chairman PJ Kurien allow members to speak on the matter as it was very serious in nature. While Kurien initially insisted that it would be permitted during Zero Hour, the MPs persisted following which he allowed Mistry to make a statement.

Also Read |Alwar attack: Gau rakshaks killed a dairy farmer, not cattle smuggler

Meanwhile, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi expressed his anguish at what he said was the failure of law and order in Rajasthan. “When government abdicates responsibility and allows lynch mobs to rule, tragedies of immense proportion follow. Shocking breakdown of law & order in Alwar. All right thinking Indians must condemn this blind brutality. We expect Govt to take strict action against those responsible for this brutal & senseless attack.”

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