Incidents like the Dadri lynching “damage” the image of the National Democratic Alliance government, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has nothing to do with them, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said.
“These incidents damage the image of the NDA as well as the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Parrikar said.
He was speaking at a fund-raising function in Bambolim on the outskirts of Panaji on Sunday when he was asked about the lynching of a man over a beef eating rumour in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh and whether such incidents were part of the RSS agenda to polarise the society ahead of the Bihar polls.
“Sometimes local issues are blown out of proportion,” he said insisting that he was not referring to any particular incident even as he called for exercising restraint on such issues.
Seeking to distance the RSS from the recent attacks in Uttar Pradesh, he said, “I have been a hardcore RSS functionary from my childhood. This (Dadri lynching) has nothing to do with the RSS. The Indian society is a tolerant and understanding society where solutions are reached through discussion and compromise.”
“Violence of any nature cannot be accepted,” he added.
The lynching of a 50-year-old Muslim man in UP recently over beef rumours has led to national outrage with several writers returning their Sahitya Akademi awards over “rising intolerance”.
When asked whether the demand for a countrywide ban on beef, as sought by Baba Ramdev, was being considered, Parrikar said, “The government decisions have to be fair to everyone.” “Some vegetarians may want the whole world to eat only vegetarian food. What will happen is there will be a spurt in prices of veggies that at one point even the vegetarians won’t be able to afford them,” he further added.
To a question whether the organisations like the Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha should be banned after they came under the scanner for the killing of some rationalists, Parrikar mentioned that investigating agencies would have to build a case against the organisation before such a ban.
“Like the Students Islamic Movement of India, the government would have to build a case against them to prove that the organisation encourages violence as a means of silencing those who hold a contrary view. Violence cannot be allowed in a democracy,” he stressed.
Image: A candlelight vigil to protest against the Dadri lynching
