Breaking his silence on the Jharkhand lynching, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that he was pained by the incident, and the law would take its course in the case. However, he criticised the “insults” hurled on the State over the lynching.
“Some people in the Rajya Sabha are calling Jharkhand a hub of lynching. Is this fair? Why are they insulting a State? None of us have the right to insult the State of Jharkhand,” he said. Jharkhand will go to the polls later this year.
Whether it is Jharkhand, or West Bengal or Kerala, incidents of violence should be treated in the same manner and the perpetrators of violence should get the message that the entire country is one on this issue, the Prime Minister said.
In the Jharkhand lynching, Tabrez Ansari, 24, was tied to an electric pole and beaten up on suspicion of being a thief. The suspects recorded his plight on a mobile phone and forced him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Hanuman’.
He was rescued by the police but later died of his wounds.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, while referring to the incident, had said a day ago in the Rajya Sabha that Jharkhand had become a den of mob lynchings and mob violence.
Mr. Modi said the country’s future and unity was linked to the National Register of Citizens (NRC). “Credit is a big issue over here. Look at NRC, won’t you take credit for it? As per the Assam Accord (1985) Rajiv Gandhi agreed to NRC and the Supreme Court intervened only much later. Our country’s unity and future is linked to it. And we are following the court’s order,” he said.
Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, Mr. Modi said there was a limit to the arrogance of the Opposition party as it had put voters in the dock by questioning their verdict.
“After such a big mandate, you say you (BJP) have won, but the country has lost...If the Congress loses, does the country get defeated. Does the Congress mean the country and the country the Congress. There is a limit to arrogance,” he said.
Going by such arguments, he wondered whether the victory of the Congress in Wayanad and Rae Bareli seats too were “defeat of the country.”
Noting that the Congress was not able to win even a single Lok Sabha seat in 17 States, he said it was time for the Congress to introspect. The PM also hit out at the Congress for questioning EVMs.
Mr. Modi said, “We are seeing this same attitude when it comes to discussing One Nation, One Election. Yes, people may not like the idea or have inputs on this. But, it is important to present these ideas and have discussions on the subject.”
