Rahul Says ‘Alwar Lynching is Part of Modi’s New India’, BJP Fumes

Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal & BJP leaders slam Rahul Gandhi’s move to target PM Modi for the lynching of Akbar Khan.

The Narendra Modi-led government has ushered in a “brutal new India, where humanity is replaced with hatred,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted on 23 July, as he condemned the lax attitude of the police in the case where Akbar Khan was lynched in Rajasthan’s Alwar.

Policemen in #Alwar took 3 hrs to get a dying Rakbar Khan, the victim of a lynch mob, to a hospital just 6 KM away.

Why?

They took a tea-break enroute.

This is Modi’s brutal “New India” where humanity is replaced with hatred and people are crushed and left to die. https://t.co/sNdzX6eVSU

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 23, 2018

Tweet Ruffles BJP’s Feathers

Akbar Khan (also known as Rakbar) and his friend Aslam were attacked late on 20 July night by a mob who accused them of smuggling cows.

While the Congress accused the Centre of turning a blind eye to incidents of lynching, Union Minister Smriti Irani lashed out at the Congress chief for playing what she called “vulture politics” and attempting to “rupture social bonds for electoral gains” with every incident.

Rahul Gandhi’s family presided over the worst form of hate in 1984, Bhagalpur & Nellie & many other instances.

It is shameful that he is doing the same through VULTURE POLITICS.

Not a single instance goes by where he doesn't attempt to rupture social bonds for electoral gains. https://t.co/kpX3n1Kcc0

— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) July 23, 2018

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal joined Irani on Twitter and called Gandhi a “merchant of hate,” claiming that the Congress president “jumped with joy” every time a crime incident took place.

Stop jumping with joy every time a crime happens, Mr Rahul Gandhi.

The state has already assured strict & prompt action.

You divide the society in every manner possible for electoral gains & then shed crocodile tears.

Enough is Enough. You are a MERCHANT OF HATE. https://t.co/4thsyNL3nx

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) July 23, 2018

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that Gandhi should first address the actions of his party during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones, Pradhan told ANI, adding, “The less spoken about him, the better it is"

Mamata Slams Rajnath, Asks Party to Rein in Violence

“It is because of their [the BJP’s] hate campaign, it (lynching incidents) are still going on,” Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said on 23 July, training her guns on Rajnath Singh, who had earlier said that the state should work to curb incidents of lynching.

There is no point in the Union Home Minister condemning lynching incidents unless his party learns to control its workers, the CM said. Lynching incidents occur due to some extremist religious groups who take law into their own hands, she told reporters.

Earlier in July, the Supreme Court had asked the Parliament to draft a new law to effectively deal with offences of mob lynching.

“Horrendous acts of mobocracy cannot be allowed to become new norm and has to be curbed with iron hands,” the court had observed at the time.