A Union Jack flag flies at the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, | Photo Credit: IANS

Key Highlights Uttar Pradesh Law Commission submitted a draft Bill on mob lynching crimes to CM Yogi Adityanath Labour Party MP Jonathan Ashworth claimed that India was not doing enough to curb such attacks UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it condemns such attacks

London: The Labour Party slammed India over the violent attacks on Muslims and urged the British government to look into the matter and intervene.

Calling the matter extremely worrying, Jonathan Ashworth, a Labour Party MP from Leicester South wrote a letter last week to foreign secretary and prime ministerial hopeful Jeremy Hunt saying that many of his constituents had raised concerns that the Indian government was not doing enough to curb the attacks.

Urging Hunt to look into the matter and respond accordingly Ashworth said: “The situation in India is extremely worrying; there have been reports of religiously motivated killings, assaults, riots, discrimination, vandalism and actions restricting the right of individuals to practice their religious beliefs.”

Responding to this letter, the FCO said that it condemns any instances of discrimination because of religion or belief, "regardless of the faith or country involved".

"We are working to improve the situation for Muslim minorities in India, and our 'Empowering Muslim youth' project reached 150 young people, 20 teachers and over 100 educational institutions. We have also enabled training for 900 minority students on faith issues in six universities across North India," an FCO spokesperson said.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that a lynching incident in Jharkhand has pained him and the guilty must be severely punished. He stressed that all kinds of violence in the country, whether in Jharkhand, West Bengal or Kerala, should be treated in the same manner and law should take its course.

Recently, the Uttar Pradesh Law Commission submitted a draft Bill on mob lynching crimes to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Led by Justice (retd) AN Mittal the bill calls for punishment ranging from seven years in jail to life imprisonment for lynching.

Citing various reports of mob lynching in the state the 128-page report recommended immediate enactment of law as per the recommendations laid out by the Supreme Court in 2018.

The Commission also observed that existing laws were not sufficient to combat lynching and stressed that there should be a separate law to tackle such crimes.

According to the data available, Uttar Pradesh recorded 50 incidents of mob violence from 2012 to 2019 and out of around 50 victims, 11 people had died.

The panel analysed laws enforced in many countries and states suggesting strict punishment for conspiracy, aiding or abetting and obstructing the due legal process.

The report was hailed by former UP CM Mayawati who said that there was a need for a nationwide law.