Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Saturday said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly criticised mob violence, there was no apprehension about lynchings in the country.

Speaking in Goa, BJP president Amit Shah looked to allay fears that action wasn’t taken against cow vigilantes. He said: “Aap ke paas ek bhi aisi ghatna h jisme arrest na hui ho? 2011, 2012, 2013 mein, hamare 3 saal mein jitne lynching hue ussay kayi guna zyada hue, magar kabhi ye sawaal nhi uthta tha." (Do you have any instances where arrests weren’t made? In 2011, 2012 and 2013, there were more instances of lynching but you never raised this question).

"Mohammad Akhlaq died in Uttar Pradesh, when the Samajwadi Party was in power. It was their responsibility and yet there is a protest against Modi government," Shah added. "What is this fashion? I can understand about the citizens but why are journalists getting caught in such a flow," the BJP President said.

2011, 2012, 2013 mein, hamare 3 saal mein jitne #lynching hue ussay kayi guna zyada hue, magar kabhi ye sawaal nhi uthta tha: Amit Shah, BJP pic.twitter.com/lsKLRH68IW — ANI (@ANI_news) July 1, 2017

Shah, who interacted with people from various walks of life in Goa in the presence of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, said the situation in Kashmir could not be assessed on the basis of the events of the last 4-5 months.

"You can't assess the situation in Kashmir in the backdrop of the happenings of the last 4-5 months. Kashmir has been witnessing these issues since 1989," he said."If you look at the scenario there since 1989, you will see certain phases running for months, which will make you feel that Kashmir has gone out of our hands. But Kashmir has not gone till now and will never go," he said.

"Our security forces have always controlled the situation and they will continue to do so. The beginning has been made.For the first time, the separatists are feeling the heat and what you see is their reaction," Shah added."The security forces have given an apt reply. Our security agencies will soon control the situation in Kashmir and after that, for a long span, no one will dare to act against India in Kashmir," he said.

BJP president Amit Shah today said the party was committed to governance that treats all communities equally, while noting it was a Congress government which had imposed a ban on cow slaughter in Goa in 1976.

"As far as the issue of beef ban is concerned, it is not the BJP which has imposed that. There is already prohibition on slaughter of cows in Goa (gau hatya bandi)," he said, responding to a question during an interaction with a group of professionals here."Right from 1976 it has been there, and it was there even when the Congress government was in power, but no one posed questions to the Congress," he quipped.Responding to a query on the minorities under the BJP rule, Shah said the party has been in power in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where the population of minorities was more than the overall population of Goa."Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan have minorities more than the overall population of Goa. There has been no problems in those states," he said."I don't recognise the Sachar Committee but it has given a report that the minority community is most wealthy, educated and employed in Gujarat," he said.Shah said since its inception, the BJP has followed the ideology of not carrying out governance on the basis of religion, caste or creed.

"When Narendra bhai (Prime Minister Modi) says that all the villages in the country will have electrification, that means the electricity would be supplied even to the house of a minority community member," he said.The BJP leader said when his party talked about providing LPG connections to 5 crore poor people and constructing 4.5 crore toilets, it included members of the minority community."I believe we should eradicate words like minority and majority from governance. Every citizen should be treated at par, and that is being done by our government," he added.

With inputs from agencies