Communal offences has increased by 41% in last three years, says government

While India has suffered from communal violence throughout history, apparently the number of offences promoting enmity on communal and racial lines has gone up by 41 per cent, according to the government.

The government said in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, July 26, that over the last three years offences that are communal and racial in nature has increased.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, presented by Minister of state for home affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, 336 cases related to offences promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion, race, place of birth were registered in 2014, which have risen to 475 in the year 2016, an increase of over 41 per cent.

In the states, a rise of 49 per cent of such cases was registered during this period. In 2014, 318 such cases were reported from states which went up to 474 in 2016, while in Union Territories, including Delhi, these incidents dipped from 18 in 2014 to just one in 2016, it said.

Uttar Pradesh recorded an increase of 346 per cent in such incidents during last three years from 26 in 2014 to 116 in 2016, it said.

In Uttarakhand, four such cases were reported in 2014, which increased by 450 per cent to 22 in 2016, it said.

West Bengal reported 20 such cases in 2014 and 53 in 2016 showing an increase of 165 per cent, the data shows.

Although the NCRB maintains records of offences promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, it does not maintain data on cases relating to cow 'vigilantes', cow trade and trafficking.

(With inputs from PTI)

• Communal offences
• increased by 41%
• three years