Hundreds of people converged at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Wednesday, 26 June, to protest against the lynching of a youth in Jharkhand and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Raghubar Das over last week's incident.
Twenty-four-year-old Tabrez Ansari was allegedly tied to a pole and thrashed with sticks by a mob in Jharkhand's Seraikela Kharsawan district on the suspicion of stealing a motorcycle.
The newly-married man was purportedly seen in a video being forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram" and "Jai Hanuman."
Leading the protesters, former JNU student leader Umar Khalid said it was "shameful" that the Opposition took a week to speak about the heinous incident and called for a "Nirbhaya-like movement" to curb the lynchings.
CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar pointed out that the government had been trying to win "sabka vishwas" (everyone's trust). "But will it able to earn the trust of those whose children, husband, and brothers have been killed?" he asked.
CPI(M) politburo member Kavita Krishnan cited a number of incidents where people were made to chant "Jai Shri Ram" forcibly. "Fringe groups have entered the Parliament too. When a Muslim MP came to take the oath, these people raised started chanting 'Jai Shri Ram'," she said
Many also took to social media to highlight the issue, with the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi tweeting using ‘#IndiaAgainstLynchTerror’.
(With inputs from PTI)
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