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Updated December 21st, 2021 at 17:29 IST

BJP slams Rahul Gandhi for 'Lynching unheard of pre-2014' remark; mentions 1984 riots

Days after two lynchings in Punjab, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Before 2014, the word 'lynching' was practically unheard of. #ThankYouModiJi".

Reported by: Kamal Joshi
Prakash Javadekar
Image: PTI, ANI | Image:self
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Slamming Rahul Gandhi over his attack on the PM Modi-led government for incidents of lynching, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Tuesday raked up the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Former minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar asked the Congress leader to get his facts rights. "2000+ Sikhs were lynched in 1984 & Congress justified it. Selective amnesia will not work. We condemn all lynching," he said.

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Before 2014, the word 'lynching' was practically unheard of. #ThankYouModiJi". His tweet comes days after two cases of lynching in Punjab. Two persons were lynched in separate incidents, and they were accused of sacrilege.

BJP's IT chief Amit Malviya called Rahul Gandhi's father Rajiv Gandhi, the "father of mob lynching", in reference to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. "Congress took to streets, raised slogans like 'khoon ka badla khoon se lenge', raped women, wrapped burning tyres around necks of Sikh men while dogs gorged on charred bodies dumped in drains," he tweeted while sharing a short clip of the ex-Prime Minister's speech.

Speaking to the media, Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey stated that hundreds of Sikhs were killed in the 1984 riots. He also referred to the 1989 Bhagalpur riots and asked if these were not considered lynchings. "Mobs killed Sikhs by burning tyres around their necks. Wasn't it lynching?" he asked.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said, "the biggest example of 'lynching' is the incidents that took place in 1984, after the death of former PM Indira Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi's reply to a media question today over 'lynching', reminds us of the era of Emergency. Hundreds of Sikh brothers and sisters were killed. Sikh women and sisters were sexually assaulted. That incident cannot be forgotten."

Rahul Gandhi also attacked the media when asked about the tweet posted today, December 21, on 'lynching'. "Sarkari ki dalali mat kare," the Wayanad MP told the media. The I&B minister has asked Rahul Gandhi to apologise to the media for his 'dalal' remark.

Image: PTI, ANI

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Published December 21st, 2021 at 17:29 IST

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