Panaji, July 2 (PTI): BJP president Amit Shah has said that more incidents of lynching had occurred during the previous governments than during the three years of NDA rule, but no one had raised questions then.
"I do not want to compare and undermine the current incidents of lynching. I am also serious about it. But there have been more lynching incidents in 2011, 2012 and 2013," Shah told a gathering of professionals in Goa last evening.
"There have been more lynchings each year in the past, compared to the total lynching incidents that have happened during our three-year-long tenure," the BJP leader said. The BJP-led government came to power at the Centre in May 2014.
Responding to a question about fears over the lynching incidents, he said there was no apprehension anywhere in the country.
"Do you know of any such incident where arrests have not been made? I do not have any answer to apprehensions. There is no apprehension anywhere in the country," he said.
Maintaining that law and order was a state subject, Shah said when Mohammad Akhlaq died, the Samajwadi Party-led government was in power in Uttar Pradesh, and it was its responsibility.
"But protests are held in Delhi in front of the Narendra Modi government. What is this fashion," he asked.
In September 2015, Akhlaq was dragged out of his house and killed by a mob at Dadri in UP on suspicion of storing and consuming beef.
Following several such lynching incidents, including those in Jharkhand, Haryana and UP, protests were held late last month at several cities across the country.
Congress again attacks government over lynching
IANS adds: The Congress on Sunday attacked the central government on the issue of mob lynching and said rumours were spread by people with vested interests to mobilise killer crowds.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala referred to the arrest of BJP member Nityanand Mahto in Jharkhand for instigating a mob that lynched a man, Asgar Ansari, in the state last week.
"Mahto instigated the mob; a video of the incident shows that the BJP leader was not just present at the spot but he dragged Ansari out of the van. As he watched, the mob then thrashed Ansari mercilessly," Surjewala said.
"Is it not a fact that more than 50 cases of lynching and mob justice have taken place in the past three years under BJP rule? Sangh Parivar organisations associated with the BJP, including Bajrang Dal and VHP, have actively been instrumental in many of these dastardly acts. Why has no action being taken against them?" he asked.
"Is it not a fact that a majority of the lynching incidents have taken place this year?" he added.
He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shedding crocodile tears by invoking the names of Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave and said: "It is high time the BJP government takes note of this widespread mob frenzy and lynching incidents."
