Opposition parties, ex-babus demand Jayant Sinha's sacking for felicitating lynching convicts

 Former Mumbai police commissioner Julio Ribeiro, former chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah and 41 other retired bureaucrats have demanded that Union minister Jayant Sinha be sacked for felicitating eight people convicted in a lynching case, saying his action shows "there is a licence to kill minorities".

The Minister of State for Civil Aviation stoked controversy after he felicitated eight convicts in the Ramgarh lynching case after they came out of prison on bail last week. Meat trader Alimuddin Ansari was beaten to death on June 29 last year by a mob at the Bazaar Tand area under Ramgarh police station on suspicion that he was carrying beef in his car. Expressing happiness over their release from jail after being granted bail on June 29 this year by the Jharkhand High Court, Sinha garlanded them and offered them sweets.

"The larger and chilling message that Shri Sinha's action sends out is that there is a licence to kill minorities and that those who are accused of such crimes will be enthusiastically supported financially, legally and politically," the bureaucrats said in a public statement. They said Sinha felicitated the convicts as if they were "some revolutionaries in a freedom struggle".

In the past, the bureaucrats said, when there were protests against partisan support for such revolting actions, the central government "conveniently used the fig leaf" of constitutional separation of powers to argue that the locus standi lay with the states concerned, despite most of these states being ruled by the BJP, which is also in power at the centre. "Now that a Union minister has openly questioned a criminal case where his own party government in the state had, admirably in our opinion, prosecuted and brought to justice the accused, we would like to know what stand the Government of India proposes to take.

"We demand the immediate resignation/removal of Shri Jayant Sinha from the Council of Ministers and an apology to the people of India from the party he represents for brazenly sympathising with those convicted of murder," the bureaucrats said. They also sought to know the stand the Union government proposes to take after Sinha's action. "The latest episode comes on the heels of repeated incidents which highlight the contempt which representatives of the ruling party and their followers have for the rule of law," they said. Besides Ribeiro and Habibullah, the officials who have demanded Sinha's sacking include former Pune police commissioner Meeran Borwankar and former Prasar Bharti CEO Jawhar Sircar.

In April, the retired civil servants attacked the central government following the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district of Jammu after a few state BJP lawmakers had come out in support of the accused in the case. "In post-Independence India, this is our darkest hour and we find the response of our government, the leaders of our political parties inadequate and feeble," they had said then in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On March 21, a fast-track court sentenced the 11 convicts in the Ramgarh lynching case to life imprisonment. Eight of the 11 convicts were granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court on June 29. Two are in Hazaribag Central Jail and a juvenile is in a correction home. Another secured bail on July 4. 

Opposition raises clamour for Jayant Sinha's resignation: 

The Congress today questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on incidents of lynching in the country, and demanded the resignation of Union minister Jayant Sinha for garlanding eight convicts in a lynching case after they were released on bail. Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said the silence of the prime minister and BJP president Amit Shah, and honouring of the convicts by a minister give "a guarantee to" the perpetrators that they have the support and encouragement of the government.

Accusing the BJP and the government of spreading hatred and violence in society, he said the issue would be raised by the opposition in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament starting July 18. "When will Prime Minister Modi unequivocally condemn the growing acts of violence which are creating a further divide in the fault lines that exist? Does PM Modi believe that his silence will reap political benefits for the BJP? "Is the tacit support of various BJP leaders to such criminals who incite mob violence a tool to further attack and intimidate the marginalised sections of the society?...Is the silence of the prime minister not giving rise to such incidents?" he asked.
Tiwari also asked when Home Minister Rajnath Singh was going to seek a report from various states that were reporting growing incidents of such hate crimes and mob violence.

"Why is Modi government continuing to maintain criminal silence on the growing mob lynching incidents? Is the country, under the BJP rule, turning into a mobocracy, where anarchy prevails? 'Maun Modi' (Silent Modi) and Kadi Ninda' (strong condemnation) is the only defence through which the Modi government is giving itself a clean chit," he told reporters. The Congress leader alleged that when ministers felicitate convicted criminals, what does it indicate. "What is this if not an act of encouragement? he asked.

Training his guns on Sinha, he said, "Jayant Sinha is a member of Modi's Council of Ministers and if he garlands those convicted of lynching, he should have no place in council of ministers. If the prime minister does not sack him, at least he should resign of his own." He said BJP's Sinha supported convicted mob lynchers and felicitated them. "Does this not indicate the nation that Indian government supports lynchers?" he asked. He noted that the nation does expect a minister who has taken an oath on the Constitution to glorify convicts. "This is an insult of the Constitution and the judiciary, which has given them punishment, he said.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) today urged President Ram Nath Kovind to drop Union ministers Jayant Sinha and Giriraj Singh from the cabinet, alleging that they acted against the spirit of Constitution by challenging the dictates of Supreme Court . In a statement, the Left party accused the ministers of supporting those accused of lynching. 

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha stoked a controversy after he felicitated eight convicts in the Ramgarh lynching case when they came out of prison on bail last week. 
While, Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh paid a visit in jail to those accused of inciting communal violence. "President must drop Jayant Sinha and Giriraj Singh from Union Cabinet, who were not only violating the solemn oath, but also challenging the dictates of the highest court of the country, the CPI said.