"Good news, but we must try and ensure there are no incidents," said Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju.
As actor Aamir Khan gives fresh life to the debate on intolerance, the home ministry is planning to present data that says there has been no major incident of communal violence in 2015. Also, the number of people who have died or were injured in such incidents has also sharply declined.
The Union Home Ministry is expected to present this data to the Standing Committee of Parliament - the matter has already been placed on the committee's agenda. The winter session begins on November 26 and the Opposition is likely to corner the government on the issue.
The ministry is expected to tell the Standing Committee that there were only two notable incidents of communal violence --- the killing of Mohammed Akhlaq in Bisada village in Dadri and the inter-community clash Atali in Haryana -- from January to October 2015.
Also, the number of small to minor communal incidents till October 2015 was 630, compared to 644 in 2014 and 823 in 2013. The number of people killed in small to minor clashes was 86 in 2015 as compared to 95 in 2014, 133 in 2013 and 94 in 2012.
The spike in the number of deaths and incidents in communal clashes in 2013 was largely because of the riots in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and Dhule in Maharashtra.
"That the number of incidents of communal violence has gone down is good news, but we must all try and ensure there are no incidents at all," Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, told NDTV. "We must all work together - the Centre and the states -- to ensure that there are no incidents of communal violence," he added.
Responding to Aamir Khan and his remarks on growing intolerance, Mr Rijiju said everyone has the right to express his opinion. But public figures and celebrities such as Aamir Khan perhaps should show restraint -- more so because they influence public perception.
"When expressing one's opinion, one should not damage India's image," he said.