Manmohan Singh takes a jibe at saffron fringe for cow vigilantism

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh also took a jibe at the saffron fringe for killing people in the name of cow protection. The former PM said that law and constitution does not encourage hate crimes.

Singh, speaking at a function to celebrate Eid, advocated that people of "Hindustan" should come together to guard the nation. "We should create an ambience which concurs with lessons we have got from our law and constitution.. so that we can hug each other with a sense of brotherhood," the veteran Congress leader stated.

His comments came at a time when reports highlighted that cow vigilantism has claimed 23 lives since 2014 -- the year NDA government was installed at the centre.

Singh said the bad influence being peddled in the name of religion reminded him of a couplet of renowned Urdu poet Allama Iqbal, whose original name was Muhammad Iqbal. "Mazhab nahi sikhata aapas me bair rakhna (Religion does not teach mutual hate)," Singh qouted famous poetic expression of Iqbal.

Prime Minister Modi too had condemned mob lynching under the garb of "gua bhakti (cow protection)" and lamented that even Mahatama Gandhi would not have liked what was happening.

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu, however, described lynching incidents as "barbaric" but argued that they should not be seen from a religious angle. "It has been condemned by and one all. The prime minister also, for the second time, spoke about it. It is happening in different parts of the country and it is barbaric and atrocious. No religious angle is linked to it," Naidu said.