Union Minister Jayant Sinha Garlands Eight Convicted Of Lynching

Jayant Sinha, Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation has felicitated eight men In Hazaribagh, convicted in the lynching of a meat trader Alimuddin Ansari that happened in Ramgarh in June last year. All eight men are on the bail granted by the Jharkhand High Court. Father, Yashwant Sinha slams son for garlanding the men.

According to The Hindu, the eight men after getting bail went to visit the minister, who garlanded them. They were taken to the minister’s house by a local BJP leader Amardeep Yadav. It is also revealed that Jayant Sinha had “provided legal and monetary assistance to the men”.

After the photographs of Jayant Sinha started to emerge on the social media. The minister responded to the backlash. He further condemned violence and rejected vigilantism in the country.

I have full faith in our judicial system and the rule of law. Unfortunately, irresponsible statements are being made about my actions when all that I am doing is honoring the due process of law. Those that are innocent will be spared and the guilty will be appropriately punished.

— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) July 7, 2018

Father condemn the act

Yashwant Sinha, A Former Senior Leader of BJP and Jayant Sinha’s Father, has condemned his son’s act. He said that he does not “approve his son’s action” in a tweet:

Earlier I was the Nalayak Baap of a Layak Beta. Now the roles are reversed. That is twitter. I do not approve of my son's action. But I know even this will lead to further abuse. You can never win.

— Yashwant Sinha (@YashwantSinha) July 7, 2018

The leader of opposition in Jharkhand and former Chief Minister Hemant Soren tweeted in a stinging swipe,

This is truly despicable. @Harvard Your alumnus @jayantsinha felicitating the accused in cow related lynching death in India. Is this what @Harvard stands for? https://t.co/DJh8XRtoXl

— Hemant Soren (@HemantSorenJMM) July 6, 2018

The incident

The incident happened last year on June 30 when a mob of 11 people including a BJP functionary Nityan Mahato, lynched Alimuddin Ansari on suspicion of carrying 200 kgs of meat in his van. The videos of the assault were circulated, and the convicts were seen beating up Ansari. His car was also set ablaze, The Wire informed.

A fast-track court convicted all 11 of them to life imprisonment. The High Court later quashed the decision.

According to the Wire, The case again came to limelight in October 2017 after a witness’s wife was killed in a road accident outside the courtroom. Unidentified men on a bike murdered the witness Jalil Ansari, (Alimuddin’s brother), his wife Sulekha.

Earlier Sinha, also had also tweeted, supporting the move by the High Court, which quashed the life imprisonment sentence of the eight men.

In the Ramgarh case, the Hon'ble Ranchi High Court, which is the first court of appeal, has suspended the sentence of the accused and released them on bail while admitting their case. The case will once again be re-heard.

— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) July 7, 2018

As per a report published in The Indian Express, 27 people have been killed in lynchings in 9 states, in the last one year.

Also Read: Maharashtra: This Youth And His Uncle Saved Five From Getting Lynched

Also published on Medium.