No apprehension about lynchings after Modi's rebuke: Amit Shah

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Saturday said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly criticised mob violence, there was no apprehension about lynchings in the country.

Shah also said criticism of the central government led by PM Modi was unfair vis-a-vis the issue of lynchings and also questioned why journalists were being caught in the flow.

"There is no (apprehension anywhere in the country," Shah said, when asked if apprehension about public lynchings had been quelled by Modi's recent public statement criticising such incidents.

Shah suggested that there was an orchestrated effort to wrongly blame the Modi-led government on the lynching issue.

"I do not want to undermine lynching incidents, by presenting a comparison. In 2011, 2012, 2013, there were more lynchings in each year than in these three years (of National Democratic Alliance rule). But the question was not asked then. How are questions being asked now?" he said.

"Mohammad Akhlaq died in Uttar Pradesh, when the Samajwadi Party was in power. It was their responsibility and yet there is a protest against Modi government," Shah added.

"What is this fashion? I can understand about the citizens but why are journalists getting caught in such a flow," the BJP President said.

--IANS

maya/pgh/