Andalib Akhter / New Delhi
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi today termed the Jharkhand lynching incident as painful and said the guilty should be given a harsh punishment.
Replying to Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Modi, however, said that calling Jharkhand as a hub of lynching and mob violence is unfair and an insult to the state. Mr Modi said one must not differentiate between good and bad violence just as there is no differentiating good and bad terrorism.
“Death of youth in mob lynching is sad, culprits will be punished but blaming entire Jharkhand for it is not right.” PM Modi said adding that he was saddened to see the Opposition maligning a single state.
Promising strong action against those behind mob lynching, the Prime Minister said the law will take its own course. “Letting law take its own course is the only way to teach a lesson to those behind this,” Modi said.
He said a uniform yardstick must be applied to all acts of violence, whether it takes place in Jharkhand, West Bengal or Kerala. He added that this will give a clear message to the perpetrators of violence that the country is against them.
Mr Modi termed Ayushman Bharat as a revolution in health services to poor sections of the society. He said Ayushman Bharat has almost reduced the requests from MPs for Prime Minister Relief Fund to zero.
Tabrez Ansari was allegedly tied to a pole and thrashed with sticks by a mob at Dhatkidih village in Seraikela Kharsawan district last Wednesday on the suspicion of theft. The newly-married man was purportedly seen in a video being forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman”. The 24-year-old succumbed to his injuries on Saturday.
Eleven people were already arrested in connection with the case and a special investigation team was probing the incident, adding that the process of identifying the remaining accused through video footage was on.
PM said deaths of children in Bihar due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome is unfortunate. However, Mr. Modi expressed solidarity with the state government and confidence that the country will collectively come out of this crisis soon.
Talking about cooperative federalism, Mr Modi repeated his call for National Ambitions with Regional Aspirations (NARA). Mentioning the bills that were not passed in the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Modi also reminded that it is Rajya Sabha’s responsibility of Cooperative federalism to pass the bills that were sent by the Lok Sabha.