Nearly 3,400 communal riots took place from 2016-2020: Centre to Parliament

The central government informed the Parliament that India reported as many as 3,399 cases of communal or religious rioting during the period 2016-2020.

On Tuesday, MoS home affairs Nityanand Rai made the disclosure in response to a question posed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and BJP MP Chandra Prakash Joshi.

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The lawmakers sought to know whether the government maintained a record of the riots and lynching that have taken place in the country in recent years.

Citing reports of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Rai said 857 communal or religious riot cases were registered in 2020, 438 in 2019, 512 in 2018, 723 in 2017 and 869 in 2016.

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In 2020, as many as 51,606 rioting cases were registered while 45,985 in 2019, 57,828 in 2018, 58,880 in 2017 and 61,974 in 2016. The MoS added that no separate data on mob lynching is maintained by the NCRB.

“It is the intention of the government to comprehensively review the existing criminal laws, and make them relevant to the contemporary law and order situation as well as to provide speedy justice to the vulnerable sections of the society and create a legal structure which is citizen-centric,” Rai said.

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He said that the department–related parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, in its June 2010 report, recommended a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system.