Union minister Jayant Sinha exposes BJP’s links with lynching

The close links between the BJP and the lynching mob have been confirmed by a union minister, who not only helped men convicted for a lynching to obtain bail but also garlanded them.

A defiant union minister Jayant Sinha invited outrage on Saturday by justifying his action and tweeted that he was merely ‘ honouring’ the legal process. Pressed for his reaction to widespread condemnation, the minister told ANI that he did not support violence, that nobody had the right to take law into their hands and that the guilty would be punished.

But his explanation left most people dissatisfied. How can a union minister garland and felicitate people convicted for killing a man ? Did the minister ever visit the home of the victim, who was also a citizen in his own constituency ? Did he help the victim’s family in securing justice, were some of the questions which were raised on Sinha’s conduct.

While a fast-track court sentenced the eight accused to life imprisonment, based on eyewitness accounts and incriminating videos, the Jharkhand High Court this week ordered them to be released on bail and ordered a re-trial. The union minister had in the past voiced his opinion that the fast-track court had not delivered justice. Can a union minister publicly question the decision of a court of law ?

Coming days after the Government warned WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned messaging platform, to stop the spread of “irresponsible and explosive messages filled with rumours and provocation”, Sinha on Saturday triggered a political row by defending his action in felicitating the eight convicted men in the Ramgarh lynching case.

In a series of tweets on Saturday, he asserted that “I have repeatedly expressed my misgivings about the Fast-Track Court judgement sentencing each accused to life imprisonment.”

Outraged by the minster’s action and his defence of the indefensible, several users have reacted on Twitter, asking Sinha if he ever visited the family of the victim. Here’s a collection of Twitter reactions:

The Ramgarh lynching case

Ramgarh lynching case is said to be the first cow-vigilantism related case in the country in which the accused were convicted. A mob of more than 100 cow vigilantes had on June 27 last year hacked cattle trader Alimuddin Ansari to death in broad daylight in Hazaribagh ditrict, which is represented by Sinha in Lok Sabha.

Alimuddin was lynched to death on suspicion that he was carrying beef. But he was reportedly carrying about 200 kg of meat in his van when he was attacked. His vehicle was also set on fire. Subsequently, he succumbed to his injuries soon after being admitted to a hospital by the police.

The lynching happened days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his radio silence on the issue of cow vigilantism. After the gruesome lynching triggered countrywide outrage, the case was handed over to a fast-track court, which on March 21 completed the hearing in a record five months and sentenced eleven accused including BJP's Nityanand Mahto to life imprisonment under IPC Section 302 (murder). Apart from that, three of them were convicted under Section 120B (conspiracy) which indicated that it was a pre-arranged plan.

They were convicted on the basis of a statement by Alimuddin's wife Mariam Khatoon. The police also came across a video that it said showed Nityanand Mahto, 45, dragging Alimuddin Ansari out of the car that a group of cow vigilantes had forced to stop near Ranchi. The mob took over from there and mercilessly thrashed him.

In October last year, the wife of a witness in the case had died in an accident. Alimuddin’s brother Jalil Ansari who had come to depose before the court had forgotten his identity proof. So he asked his wife Julekha, and Alimuddin’s son Shahzad Ansari to go home and get it. The accident occurred while they were on their way. Alimuddin’s wife Mariam Khatoon had blamed “opposite side” for the accident.