Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress for politicizing the lynching of a man in Jharkhand’s Seraikela Kharsawan district during his Rajya Sabha address today. He asserted the incident had “pained” him but called it unfair to blame the entire state for it.
PM Modi: The lynching in Jharkhand has pained me. It has saddened others too.But, some here in the Rajya Sabha are calling Jharkhand a hub of lynching. Is this fair? Why are they insulting a whole state. None of us have the right to insult the state of Jharkhand pic.twitter.com/w77zEvW2WT
— ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2019
“Death of youth in mob lynching is sad, culprits will be punished but blaming entire Jharkhand for it is not right,” the PM said and added that he was saddened to see the opposition maligning a single state.
Breaking his silence over the incident, which transpired last week, PM Modi unleashed a stinging attack on the Congress party for describing Jharkhand as the “factory of mob lynching.”
On Tuesday, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said that Jharkhand had become a “factory of lynching and violence with Dalits and Muslims getting killed every week.”
In a blistering attack within the Parliament, the PM said, “Is this fair? Why are they insulting a whole state? None of us has the right to insult the state of Jharkhand.”
Adding further, he said that irrespective of whether such a killing takes place in Jharkhand, Kerala or West Bengal, the country should have a common stand. “Only then we will be able to halt the violence and those indulging in violence will be punished.”
“We have no right to defame the whole of Jharkhand. Isolate the criminals and take action. Law and judiciary are completely competent. For that, we will do whatever necessary and won’t back down,” he added.
Reacting to the Congress leader’s taunt, Modi said Azad has a “blurred vision” and therefore “he is seeing everything from a political point of view.”
Last year, PM Modi in his Mann Ki Baat program on All India Radio had referred to incidents such as the Jalianwala Bagh massacre and sent out a message that cruelty and violence cannot solve any problem. Mann Ki Baat is a radio program through, which he interacted with people across the country on a range of important subjects during his last term. Without referring to any specific incident of violence PM Modi had said, “Violence and cruelty can never solve any problem. It is peace and non-violence, renunciation and martyrdom that are triumphant in the end.”
Meanwhile, speaking in his first Rajya Sabha address after coming back to power, PM Modi tore into the narrative build by Congress that mocked his ‘New India’ campaign. Congress had tauntingly demanded their old India back.
Responding to the ‘Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address,’ Modi further took on Congress’ entitlement in Rajya Sabha.
“Despite such a strong mandate, there are people who say that the country lost the elections. I believe nothing can be more insulting to India’s democracy than such statements. Did India lose in Wayanad? Did India lose in Raebareli? Did India lose in Behrampur and Thiruvananthapuram? And did India lose in Amethi? So if Congress loses then India loses? There has to be a limit to the arrogance,” PM Modi declared.
