Have zero tolerance for communal incidents, Centre writes to states

NEW DELHI: In a strong signal from the Centre against religious extremism, the Union home ministry has sent an advisory to all states asking them to exercise "zero tolerance" to any attempt "to weaken the secular fabric of the nation" and "exploiting (of) religious sentiments". The communication, sent out on Monday, specifically asks the states to take "strictest action as per law against such (communal) elements without any exception whatsoever".

This is the first official direction following the murder of Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri over rumours of his family eating beef - an incident that has triggered national outrage. While saying that law and order was basically a State subject, the home ministry said it was "concerned with various incidents with communal overtones across the country including the recent unfortunate incident at Dadri, UP".

The Centre is yet to receive the report of the Uttar Pradesh government on the circumstances leading to the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq, the action taken in the immediate aftermath of the murder, and the investigations so far. The ministry had sought the report from the Akhilesh Yadav government on October 1 and advised it to ensure that such incidents do not recur in the future.

The lynching of Akhlaq over beef eating has led to a raging political debate. While government and BJP leaders including home minister Rajnath Singh and local MP and Union minister Mahesh Sharma have appealed to people not to give the incident a "communal colour", parties like the Samajwadi Party and AIMIM have alleged the hand of Hindu outfits behind the incident. However, BJP MLAs from the state such as Sangeet Som, also an accused in Muzaffarnagar riots, have alleged that suspects have been selectively detained by the UP police.