India Tomorrow

New Delhi, June 26— Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday broke his silence on the brutal lynching of a Muslim youth in Jharkhand, but he asked the Opposition parties not to defame the entire state for such sporadic incidents.

“We are sad at the mob lynching incident of Jharkhand. But it is not right for the Opposition to blame the entire state for this,” said PM Modi while referring to Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Monday remarks whereby he had attacked the BJP for incidents of lynching in Jharkhand.

“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,” said the PM.

PM Modi, while replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, also said that “whoever are accused for the Jharkhand lynching should be brought to book and prosecuted as per law.”

Tuesday evening, Congress president Rahul Gandhi also attacked BJP and its leadership over the incidents of mob lynching – the latest one took place in BJP-ruled Jharkhand where a 22-year-old Muslim youth Tabrez Ansari was lynched over theft suspicion.

“The brutal lynching of this young man by a mob in Jharkhand is a blot on humanity. The cruelty of the police who held this dying boy in custody for 4 days is shocking as is the silence of powerful voices in the BJP-ruled Central & State Govts,” tweeted Rahul with #IndiaAgainstLynchTerror hashtag.

Tabrez Ansari @Sonu, who died on Saturday (June 22), was brutally assaulted by a mob for whole night on Tuesday (June 18) on suspicion of theft. The police reached the spot next morning, says his young widow Shaista Parween in her written complaint to the Police, and took him to the local police station and after first aid he was presented in the court and sent to jail on a theft complaint. As his condition deteriorated on June 22, he was taken to hospital where he died the same day.

The police had not lodged a case of mob lynching on June 18 but after his death and media uproar, a case was filed against the goons on June 22 and 11 of them were arrested by June 25. Two cops were also suspended.

In the last five years, dozens of people have been killed in mob lynching in the name of cow smuggling, cow slaughter, beef or child theft. Most of the victims were from the minority community.

Alone in Jharkhand, over a dozen people have been killed in mob lynching in the last five years.