Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the lynching of a Muslim man in Jharkhand had “pained him”. He, however, asked if the entire State must be criticised for the incident.
Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in Rajya Sabha, Mr. Modi said: “The lynching in Jharkhand has pained me. It has saddened others too. But, 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.”
Taking a dig at Opposition, Mr. Modi said be it terrorism or violence, they were selectively being condemned. “Whether it is Jharkhand, or West Bengal or Kerala, incidents of violence should be treated in the same manner and perpetrators of violence must be brought under the law,” he said.
Tabrez Ansari, a 24-year-old Muslim man, was beaten up over suspicion of theft in Jharkhand’s Dhatkidih village on June 18. The perpetrators tied him up, forced him to chant ‘Jai Sriram and Jai Hanuman’ and brutally thrashed him. Police rescued Ansari the next day, but he succumbed to his injuries.
Several Rajya Sabha members including Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and RJD member Manoj Kumar Jha raised the issue in Parliament.