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Rijiju for new legal provisions to deal with racial attacks

By Spl correspondent

NEW DELHI, July 26 - Faced with irate members over the Delhi Golf Club incident, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju has underscored the need to draft new legal provisions to deal with racial attacks.

The Minister was replying to Bhubaneswar Kalita�s charge that the Delhi Police did not even take cognizance of the incident and refused to file an FIR. Rijiju said that nobody supports discrimination, which is a serious offence.

PTI adds: Referring to the incident at the Delhi Golf Club where a lady from the North-east was asked to leave as her attire was different, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said it was a serious incident but action has been hampered by the fact there has been no formal complaint.

He also denied the Opposition charges that mass lynchings had become increasingly frequent under the present regime which did not seem to be taking steps to curb such attacks.

During the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister said a proposal to insert two new provisions in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) - sections 153 C and 509 A � to deal with offences of promoting enmity on the grounds of religion, race, residence or language, was under examination.

These provisions, which are part of the recommendations of the Bezbaruah Committee, would help in dealing effectively with the offences involving racial matters and words, gestures or acts intended to insult a member of a particular racial group or race.

Observing that the opinion of the states have been sought on these provisions, Rijiju said seven states and the Union Territories have given a positive response on the proposal and a majority opinion was needed to carry out these changes.

He said the amendments proposed in the IPC would enable the police to deal with such situations better.

Earlier, Opposition members, including Hussain Dalwai of the Congress raised the issue of lynchings, racial attacks and incidents of discrimination.

Dalwai claimed that such attacks have increased in the last three years.

The Opposition members also sought to know what the government was doing to implement the suggestions of the Bezbaruah committee in this regard.

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