Shia board wants strict laws to deal with mob lynching

The Shia board, which will hold its annual meet this week, will discuss the issue of mob lynching and presenting a demand to the UP govt for stricter laws and punishment.

Muslims in Kolkata stage a protest against the recent cases of mob lynching | Photo: Swapan Mahapatra | PTI

Lucknow: The All India Shia Personal Law Board will hold elaborate discussions on the need to have strict laws pertaining to mob lynching in its annual meeting scheduled for 28 July here.

“The one-day annual meeting of the All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB) will be held in Lucknow on 28 July, and a demand will be made to the state government to frame strict laws pertaining to mob lynching,” AISPLB spokesperson Maulana Yasoob Abbas said Sunday.

Referring to the mob lynching incidents reported from various parts of the country, he said members of a particular community are being targeted by the attackers.

“The Shia community is of the view that strict laws are needed to curb this and even capital punishment be awarded,” Abbas said.

Taking a swipe at the ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas, Sabka Vishwaas’ (with all, for everybody’s development and having everyone’s trust) slogan given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AISPLB spokesperson said statements given by some leaders are “breaking the ‘vishwaas’ (trust) instead of enhancing it”.

The meeting is also likely to deliberate upon how the Shia community is being “ignored” by successive governments, he said.

“The All India Shia Personal Law Board wants that a committee be constituted on the lines of the Sachchar Committee to study the economic, social and educational situation of Shias,” Abbas said, adding Shia Muslims are minorities among the minorities.

Of the total population of the country, the Shias constitute 5 per cent, he said.

Apart from Uttar Pradesh, Shia clerics from Bihar, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Telangana are likely to participate in the 28 July meeting, the spokesperson added.