Alleging that instances of mob lynchings have gone up by 400% in the past four years, the Congress on Monday demanded action against Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha for garlanding eight men convicted of lynching a meat trader, and Union Minister Giriraj Singh for meeting riot accused in a Bihar jail.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari also said his party would raise the issue in the forthcoming monsoon of Parliament if the Prime Minister doesn’t sack them or the if ministers don’t step down.
‘Hatred legitimised’
“The politics of hatred and violence has been legitimised by ministers who have taken oath of protecting the Constitution. If their resignations are not obtained, then it would mean that their actions (meeting riot accused and mob lynching convicts) have the Prime Minister’s support,”said Mr Tiwari.
The junior Civil Aviation Minister courted controversy after his photographs along with eight men, convicted of lynching a Muslim meat trader in Jharkhand, surfaced last week. Former Chief minister Hemant Soren accused Mr. Sinha of ‘honouring’ those who had lynched a meat trader.
Mr. Sinha defended himself on Twitter by pointing out that the Ranchi High Court had suspended the conviction and given bail to the convicted men.
And in a separate incident, on Sunday, Union Minister Giriraj Singh met riot-accused persons at a jail in Bihar, sparking off another controversy.
Citing the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data, the Congress said deaths due to incidents of mob lynching and induced by rumours of persons being child lifters have gone up by 250% since last year.
“When will PM Modi unequivocally condemn these growing acts of violence which are creating a further divide in the fault lines that exist? Does PM Modi believe that his silence will reap political benefits for the BJP ? When is the Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh besides his Kadi Ninda going to seek report from the various states on hate crimes and mob violence?”the Congress MP said at a press briefing.
The Congress also asked for an impartial probe on the killing of convict Munna Bajrangi in a U.P. jail on Monday.