Terming mob lynching of a defenseless boy over chanting religious slogans as an ‘insult of Hinduism’, veteran Congress leader Karan Singh on Thursday stated that people involved in such acts should be ashamed of calling themselves Hindu.
Addressing a gathering during the launch of a book written by party colleague andMP Shashi Tharoor, book ‘The Hindu Way: An Introduction to Hinduism’, Singh said:
“Beating a defenceless boy to death and asking him to say ‘Jai Shree Ram‘ and ‘Jai Hanuman’ is an insult to not only Hinduism, but it is an insult to the great deities.”
Referring to the Tabrez Ansari incident, Singh asked, “Is this Hinduism? Are the people who have beaten him to death, they have the courage to call themselves Hindu; they should be ashamed of calling themselves Hindu. Anyone who indulges in these sort of things is insulting Hinduism”, he added.
Congress leader Singh also stated that Hinduism as a religion is multi-dimensional and believes in inclusivity.
“Hinduism is the oldest continuing religion in the world with about a billion followers around the world. It is multi-dimensional, pluralistic and inclusive and therefore it lends itself to a variety of interpretations,” he said.
Singh’s statement comes days after the Jharkhand Police had said that the charge sheet against 11 accused persons in Tabrez Ansari lynching case has been filed under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), as the murder case (section 302) could not be made based on the findings of the post-mortem report.
On June 17, a few people of Dhatkidih village in Jharkhand, a few kilometres from Tabrez Ansari’s house, caught him and branded him a thief before beating the 24-year-old to death.
He succumbed to injuries at a hospital four days later.
Eleven persons have so far been chargesheeted in the case. On Tuesday, the police dropped murder charges against the accused in the case.