Lynchings by cow vigilante are targeted killings: TMC

New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) The Trinamool Congress on Monday hit out at the Narendra Modi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party for mob lynchings, saying murders by cow vigilantes are killings targeted against a specific community, and demanded separate law to prevent these.

"In the US, after the Civil War, the blacks were targeted. The same thing is happening here (in India). Cows-related killings are targeted killings," TMC leader Saugata Roy said while participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha over mob lynchings.

Roy alleged that most such incidents occurred after Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister in May 2014. He said most such violence happened in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

This provoked treasury benches and heated exchanges took place when Roy used some unparliamentary words against some organisations and the government. Roy's remarks were later expunged from the house records.

The TMC leader accused the BJP leadership of shying away of condemning the killings in the name of cow protection.

"Such incidents are not being controlled because top BJP leadership is shying from condemning them. The Haryana Chief Minister took three days to condemn an incident in Bahadurgarh. The Rajasthan Chief Minister took almost a month to condemn a mob lynching in Alwar," Roy said.

The senior TMC leader demanded a separate law to prevent mob lynchings.

"Under the present law, mob lynching crimes are not defined. I demand a law -- 'Manav Suraksha Kanoon' -- to prevent mob lynchings," he said.