NEW DELHI, Mar 21: Congress told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the lynching of two Muslim herders in Latehar was reminiscent of the situation prevalent in some dark spots of the world and not in a vibrant democracy like India. It said such incidents appeared to be the saffron establishment's ploy to divide and polarise.
On Sunday, senior Congress member Ghulam Nabi Azad dashed off a letter to the PM expressing concern over rising mob violence targeting Muslims in the name of cow slaughter and beef. "The nation is worried about the unchecked growth of communal hatred and mistrust being brewed for the sake of electoral politics. There is an urgent need to stem this rising tide," Azad warned.
Reminding Modi of his message of peace and diversity at the World Cultural Festival and Sufi conference, Azad said, "But what about your own house which is simmering with communal distrust and hatred. Why your message has failed to reach such elements."
The leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha underlined that before the Latehar lynchings, a mob had killed Dadri resident Mohammed Akhlaq on the claim that he had eaten beef. Azad also pointed to raids in Delhi's Kerala House and Aligarh Muslim University mess, followed by the recent violence against Kashmiri students in Mewar University. "It is unfortunate that there has been a spurt in such incidents after the takeover of BJP and a majoritarian view of democracy is being propagated deliberately," he said, adding it had serious implications for survival of democracy and pluralism in India.The missive aims to up the "intolerance" ante against Modi amid rampant cases of "cow vigilantism" , an issue BJP has espoused as a key objective on assuming office. Azad underlined that even transportation of cattle was being used as a pretext by RSS affiliates to "target the minority community". (TNN)
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