Killing people in the name of 'gau bhakti' not acceptable: Modi in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the city to attend the centenary celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram, broke his silence on the mob lynchings in the country saying “killing people in the name of Gau Bhakti is not acceptable.”

The Prime Minister spoke seven days after 16-year-old Junaid Khan was lynched on a moving train in Haryana by a mob on allegation that he was ‘carrying beef’; Modi's address in Ahemdbad was hours after the country saw an social-media spurred sea of protests on Wednesday condemning several lynching incidents -- fronted by the campaign 'Not In My Name'.

Releasing a special postal stamp and commemorative coin to mark 150th birth anniversary of Shrimad Rajchandra, Modi said that thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi have power to mitigate challenges the world is facing today.

"No one spoke about protecting cows more than Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave. Yes. It should be done. But, killing people in the name of Gau Bhakti is not acceptable. This is not something Mahatma Gandhi would approve," he said.

Expressing 'sadness' over brutality in the incidents of recent past, Modi exhorted that violence never has and never will be the solution for any predicament.

“We are the land of non violence. We are the land of Mahatma Gandhi. Why do we forget this? As a society, there is no place for violence,” he said.

He further added that no one had the right to take the law in his or her own hands.

"Let's all work together. Let's create the India of Mahatma Gandhi's dreams. Let's create an India our freedom fighters would be proud of," he said.

Four people, including a 50-year-old Delhi government employee were arrested by Haryana police on Wednesday for killing Junaid. However, the key accused is still at large.

Here is a list of some of the lynching incidents that took place in the recent past:

• J&K police officer Ayub Pandit was thrashed to death by a mob outside a Srinagar mosque.
• 44-year-old Zafar Hussain from Rajasthan, was lynched after he objected to government officials engaged in the Swachh Bharat campaign photographing women defecating in the open.
• Abu Hanifa and Riyazuddin Ali were attacked in Nagaon by villagers on allegations of stealing cows.
• Dairy farmer Pehlu Khan was waylaid and beaten to death by a mob in Alwar while he was transporting cows.