Cong backs Sonia, says secular ethos of India under assault

Former union law minister Ashwani Kumar on Sunday backed Congress party president Sonia Gandhi's over her statement on Centre supporting vigilante violence in the country and said it is quite visible that the inclusive secular, liberal, ethos of India are under assault in the incumbent regime led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"There can be no doubt about the veracity of what Sonia Gandhi said. We see day in and day out that the inclusive secular, liberal, ethos of this country is under assault. We also see that the media is under pressure to not to espouse the aberrations that have been kept in the way in which they should be espoused," Kumar told ANI.

Kumar said the comment made by Gandhi has exuded a general feeling of the people across the nation and the latter has just given expression to it.

"I think the people of India will realize that, until they act unison and collectively the hard won freedom would be under threat," he said.

Earlier on Saturday, Gandhi without naming the ruling-National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government at the Centre said the culture of vigilante violence in the country is being actively supported by those supposed to enforce the law.

"The country's inclusive concept is under attack and the domestic misrule is as great a challenge for our country," she said at the commemorative publication of National Herald.Her comments came after the several incident of lynching that have taken place in the recent times.

Recently, three people, including a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader have been arrested in the brutal Jharkhand lynching case.

BJP leader Nityanand Mahto has been held, as the accused and is to be questioned by the police.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ramgarh, Rajeshwari said the other people involved in the incident have also been identified.

A man was lynched in the Ramgarh district of Jharkhand, for allegedly carrying a beef in his car.

The meat trader succumbed to injuries after he was assaulted by at least 10 men who intercepted his van carrying "cattle meat".

The incident took place hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that killing people in name of cow protection was not acceptable and asked people not to take law in their hands.