President Pranab Mukherjee has shown the mirror to the government that made Amit Shah “nervous”, who has now resorted to “falsehood and utter brazenness”, says the Congress
Abdul Bari Masoud | Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI — A war of words broke out between the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress after President Pranab Mukherjee strongly “indicted” the government on mob lynching.
Launching a strong attack on the BJP president Amit Shah for defending the Modi government on growing lynchings of Muslims, the Congress said the President Mukherjee has shown the mirror to the government that made Amit Shah “nervous”, who has now resorted to “falsehood and utter brazenness”. The Congress also pointed out that it was a BJP leader in Jharkhand who was arrested for instigating the mob for lynching a man.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday said, “Even as the President of India has shown the mirror of truth to the BJP on the growing incidents of mob frenzy that has become uncontrollable, and has tacit protection and support of the party, Amit Shah has resorted to falsehood and utter brazenness.
While defending the government, Shah had earlier claimed that “the nation witnessed more lynchings between 2011 and 2013, than under the BJP rule”.
Surjewala said Shah has most shamelessly chosen to ignore the reality of a bizarre yet concerted “lynching movement” which the government has overtly supported and encouraged in the last few months. He said since this government came to power, as many as 50 lynching incidents occurred in the country.
Presenting a list of incidents, the Congress leader said facts never lie, they speak for themselves.
“Is it not a fact that more than 50 cases of lynching and mob justice have taken place in the past three years, under the BJP rule? Sangh Parivar and other organizations associated with the BJP, including the Bajrang Dal and VHP have actively been instrumental in many of these dastardly acts. Why has no action being taken against them?”Surjewala asked.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi made two statements but nothing seems to have changed even after that.
“Why doesn’t the voice of Modi, who sheds crocodile tears occasionally (for public consumption) by invoking Gandhiji and Vinoba Bhave never, reach the vigilantes? Why is the rule of law and Constitution not upheld to punish them?” he asked, adding that Nityanand Mahto, the media in-charge of BJP’s Ramgarh unit, Jharkhand was arrested over last week’s mob lynching of a man.
Questioning Shah, the Congress leader said, “Will Shah blame Congress-UPA for the merciless death of these individuals even where his own party men are involved?”
Surjewala added that instead of falsification and distortion of facts, the BJP would do good to take note of the anger that is engulfing the citizens of India against vigilantism by their own party men.
Meanwhile, Socialist Party leader Dr Prem Singh, who ended his 7-day Satyagraha fast at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, to protest against growing incidents of mob lynching, said the society will take strong action at every level to prevent mobocracy which defies the constitutional order and human civilization.
Dr Singh warned that “if mobocracy continues to grow like this then chances are that political workers will also be targeted, just like some writers and intellectuals have been targeted”.
