Azad urges Modi to check increasing communal hatred in country

In an sly reference to hanging of two Muslim cattle traders in Jharkhand, leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged him to put a check on growing communal hatred in the country, adding that an environment of "mistrust" was being created for electoral gains.

Azad wrote, "With great dismay, I am impelled to observe that such episodes of mob violence seem to give a spectacle."

"Of some parts of world where democracy doesn't exist not of India-which is respected as vibrant democracy governed by rule of law," he added.

Azad also said that normal transport and trading of animals from one place to another should not be targeted.

"Would like to emphasise that cow slaughter is banned in most states of the country, there is no confusion about that but it's nobody's case that cow slaughter should not be banned," he said.

"Warning Modi of a bitter future Azad said, there is an urgent need to stem this rising tide, lest it is too late," he added.

The Jharkhand police on Saturday arrested five suspects in connection with the trader's killing, who were found hanging from a tree.