Live India : Modi justifies Sohrabuddin’s Killing
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s communally-charged political speech in Mangrol – where he virtually justified the killing of Sohrabuddin – has raised the hackles of his political opponents and rights activists alike.
With six days to go for the first phase of Assembly elections in the state, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has raked up the communal card by justifying the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a police encounter asserting that “he has got what he deserved”.
Addressing an election meeting at Mangrol in South Gujarat yesterday, Modi asked, “what should have been done to a man from whom a large number of AK-47 rifles were recovered, who was on the search list of police from four states, who attacked the police, who had relations with Pakistan and was eyeing to enter Gujarat?”
The crowd replied “mari nakho- mari nakho” (kill him) to which the chief minister retorted, “Does my Government need to take permission of Soniaben for this?”
“Maut na Saudagar (merchants of deaths) will be dealt in the same fashion on the land of Gujarat. If I have committed any crime, Government of Soniaben can hang me,” Modi added.
Modi’s statement it appears has stirred a hornet’s nest, with the Congress and the Left criticizing the Gujarat chief minister.
”This is shameful. We condemn Modi’s comments. Even if somebody is a criminal, the chief minister or for that matter even the prime minister cannot decide his fate. It is the law that pronounces the punishment. And to justify the act of murder is even worse,” said Sitaram Yechury, Leader, CPI(M).
An angry Congress has called Modi nothing short of a dictator and urged the people of Gujarat to vote him out. Party Spokesperson Abhishek M Singhvi added that appropriate action will be taken against Modi if the Congress comes to power in Gujarat.
Also, Congress leader Kapil Sibal has slammed the Gujarat chief minister, arguing that a drowning Modi’s last straw was to communalise the situation before the polls.