NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that killing of people in the name of cow is not acceptable drew a mixed reaction even while the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi termed it too little too late.
In a reiteration of his Town Hall address last year, Modi during his address in Sabarmati came down heavily against cow vigilantes at a time when #NotInMyName campaign was seen in various cities on Wednesday against spate of incidents of lynching.
Gandhi tweeted to state that Modi’s statement was “too late and too little”. He added that words meant nothing when actions outdo them.
However, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah commended Prime Minister for his strong and forthright message to the cow vigilantes. “Well said sir, here’s hoping that the people carrying out these despicable acts heed to your words,” tweeted Abdullah.
However, the Left scoffed at Prime Minister’s statement, saying that the people do not need to be reminded of ideals of Mahatma Gandhi but what the government proposes to do with the “spectacle of mobocracy” being seen in various parts of the country. The CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury said that “we want to know from the Prime Minister how he proposes to stop the incidents”.
The AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owasi called upon the Prime Minister to “walk the talk”. Stating that the Prime Minister has spoken a second time on the issue, Owaisi stated that the saffron affiliate organisations have put low premium on human lives.
However, Union Minister of state for Parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters that there is no atmosphere in the country of fear or insecurity and alleged that a section is resorting to such “tactics” to instil fear. He added that such tactics will be defeated.