NEW DELHI: The mob attack on Swami Agnivesh in Jharkhand saw the political opposition unite against the “growing culture of mob lynching” in the country and led to senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor demanding in Lok Sabha that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “break his silence” on the issue.

Tharoor not only drew the House’s attention to the attack on Swami Agnivesh, but also to the vandalism of his own constituency office in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The vandals had smeared black oil on the walls of his office allegedly in reaction to Tharoor’s comment that a “Hindu Pakistan” would be created if BJP returned to power in 2019.

Raising the issue, Tharoor said, “This is not just an attack on constitutionally-sanctioned MP’s office but also a larger attempt by incendiary elements and their digital equivalents to destroy the idea of India as a pluralistic and accepting democracy.”

He also brought up Tuesday’s attack on Swami Agvinesh in Jharkhand for expressing dissent against rising intolerance. “We cannot and should not stand by as communal violence, mob-lynching and hooliganism replace rule of law and rights guaranteed by our Constitution. I strongly urge the PM to break his silence on the behaviour of his own party men and take action against these anti-national elements and anti-Indian elements who seek to abridge the freedom of speech in our democracy,” Tharoor said.

His remarks drew sharp reaction from parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar saying that the law and order situation has to be dealt by the state government. “There is a state-organised terror... in Kerala,” Kumar said, adding that allegations against BJP was baseless and far from truth. He demanded that BJP’s mention should be expunged from the records.

Heated exchanges ensued when Kumar said the attack was “state-sponsored” and was countered by members of ruling CPM (in Kerala), leading Deputy Speaker Thambidurai, who was on the Chair, to expunge the names of BJP and CPM from the records.

Coming as it did on the day the Supreme Court censured the Centre for the growing incidents of mob violence, vigilantism and mob lynching across the country, the brazen assault on Swami Agnivesh, 80, also led to political parties raising, once again, the demand for legislation on mob lynching. Former deputy CM of Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the attack exhibited the ruling party’s inability to handle ideological opposition.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said Kumar was misleading the House as the government had all agencies, and could easily find out who were involved in the attack and demanded that the minister tell the House who were behind the attacks.

The Left parties, CPI and CPM also demanded the arrest of culprits and an early trial through a fast-track court. In a formal statement, the CPM said, “The Supreme Court observations on mob lynching have held up a mirror to the PM and the BJP Government under whose watch such crimes are being committed.”

