Amid a clamour that there was no comment forthcoming from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh on the suspicion of storing beef in his house, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah said the statements made by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were to be considered “the PM’s voice” on the matter. “What the Finance Minister, Home Minister have said and what we are saying should be considered us voicing the Prime Minister’s views,” she said on the sidelines of an exhibition of the skill programme, “Ustad,” under the aegis of her Ministry.
The Home Ministry had already asked for a report on the Dadri incident and sent an advisory to all State governments to clamp down on communal disturbances. The Finance Minister had termed the Dadri incident “highly condemnable.”
“The incident is highly condemnable and does not reflect the image of a mature society and the Centre, and State governments should ensure that such incidents do not take place,” he had said.
Ms. Heptullah had also said that it was her remit to build confidence between communities and “it is also the wish of the Prime Minister that all should progress.”
Her junior Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi too said that “there is a need to protect the concerns of minorities from becoming victim of self-proclaimed champions of secularism” (a rather obvious dig at the Samajwadi Party and the Congress), and that “India’s unity is its strength and if this unity is broken then it will destroy the fabric of development.”