Shopkeepers being 'harassed' on basis of religion in Indore: Digvijaya Singh

Indore, Sep 27 (IANS) Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday criticised the Mohan Yadav government, alleging that shopkeepers were being harassed in Indore on the basis of religion.

The Congress leader made these remarks during a visit to Sheetala Mata Market in Indore.

He asked what action the police have taken in the complaint against BJP MLA Malini Gaud's son, Eklavya Singh Gaud, who ordered shop owners to remove all employees of a particular community from the shops.

"The issue is that communal violence has increased in Madhya Pradesh, and the people of the minority community are being harassed on religious grounds. There is a lot of resentment among people due to the biased approach of the state administration," Singh added.

Talking to media persons in Indore, the Congress MP said that in 2018, the Supreme Court had issued guidelines to state governments for preventing and curbing mob violence and had suggested various steps.

"I had filed a PIL to know the implementation of the Supreme Court's guidelines in Madhya Pradesh in 2021. Recently, the state government submitted its reply to the court, which surprised me a lot. In its reply, the government mentioned that I have broken law and order," Singh said.

Referring to his 50 years of political career, the Congress leader said he never broke the law.

"If I want to meet the Chief Minister of the state and I am not given time for the meeting, then I will sit in protest. If this is breaking the law, then I have done this," he asked.

In 2018, the Supreme Court issued a slew of guidelines to curb hate crimes and directed states and union territories to take preventive and remedial measures, such as the appointment of nodal officers in each district to keep a tab on such activities.

Singh said that SC's guidelines had suggested that senior police officers (SP rank and above) should be appointed as nodal officers in each district to prevent mob violence.

The state governments were asked to identify districts, subdivisions and villages where mob violence or lynching has occurred in the past five years.

--IANS

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