Lynching: Why single out Jharkhand, asks Modi

Breaking his silence on the lynching of a Muslim youth in Jharkhand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the incident "pained" him, but sought to paint a picture that the Opposition was not treating such incidents in non-BJP-ruled states on an equal footing.

Modi said the guilty should get the severest punishment but in this particular case, the entire state has been pronounced guilty and everyone put in the dock, "which is not right".

"The lynching in Jharkhand has pained me. It has saddened others too. But some people in the Rajya Sabha are calling Jharkhand a hub of lynching. Is this fair? None of us have the right to insult the state of Jharkhand," Modi said in the Rajya Sabha while replying to the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President's Speech.

The Opposition had attacked Modi over his "silence" on the lynching incident in the BJP-ruled Jharkhand, where a Muslim youth accused of stealing a motorcycle died after being beaten up by a mob. A video showed he was made to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Jai Hanuman'.

The security of every citizen is our constitutional duty, the prime minister said, adding, "all kinds of violence — whether in Jharkhand or West Bengal or Kerala — should be treated as same and the law should take its course."

The BJP, which is eyeing to emerge as a prominent player in West Bengal and Kerala, has accused the ruling parties in these states of perpetrating violence on its cadres. West Bengal is ruled by the Trinamool Congress while the CPM-led Left Democratic Front is at the helm in Kerala.

Modi also referred to the death of of over 130 children from Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district. "In modern times, such a situation is a matter of pain as well as shame for all of us. This is the biggest failure in last seven decades and we should take it seriously," he said.

Bihar is ruled by the NDA.