The Narendra Modi government want and its ministers want to be in news all the time, even if the method is not right. Union Minister Jayant Sinha, who hails from Jharkhand, landed himself in a the middle of a row after felicitating eight men who were convicted for mob-lynching and killing of a meat trader last year.
As per the photograph released, the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation is not only welcomed them, but also seen garlanding the eight convicts at his residence on the outskirts of Hazaribagh. These were the same men, out of total 11, who were sentenced to a life term for beating Alimuddin to death on 30 June last year.
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Among the other culprits, a local BJP leader was also sentenced to life term. These culprits have dragged Alimuddin Ansari, 55, was dragged out of his car and beaten to death by a mob that suspected he was carrying beef in Ramgarh town in Jharkhand, setting his vehicle on fire.
This is not the first time the Union Minister had associated him with these accused. Even after the court convicted the 11 people in March, nine months after the incident, he had said that ‘complete justice has not been done’ and had demanded for a probe by CBI.
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Though Sinha could not be reached for his comments, Jharkhand’s leader of opposition Hemant Soren expressed his shock and tweeted, “This is truly despicable. @Harvard Your alumnus @jayantsinha felicitating the accused in cow related lynching death in India. Is this what @Harvard stands for?”
Condemning the support by Sinha, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar too expressed his shock and said, “Do they have no work to show except playing politics on dead bodies and dividing society?” The Indian Youth Congress tweeted, “Unbelievably shameful! 27 people in 10 states have fallen victim to lynching and here we have a BJP lawmaker @jayantsinha happily welcoming lynching convicts with sweets and garlands! What kind of a representative of the people are you? #SaveIndia #BharatBachao”