President Pranab Mukherjee was speaking at an event of the National Herald newspaper.
Highlights
- President expresses concern at increasing incidents of mob lynchings
- Says society must be vigilant to save basic tenets of our country
- Protests were held this week against mob violence across India
President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday expressed concern over
incidents of mob lynching around the country, saying that people must remain vigilant against challenges to the fundamental tenets of India's pluralist society.
"We have to ponder over, pause and reflect when we read in the newspaper or see in the television screen that an individual is being lynched because of some alleged violation or law or not. When mob frenzy becomes so high and irrational, uncontrollable we are to pause and reflect: are we vigilant enough? I am not talking of vigilantism - I'm talking of are we vigilant enough proactively to save the basic tenets of our country," President Mukherjee said at the launch of a commemorative edition of the Congress-run National Herald newspaper.
President Pranab Mukherjee spoke on mob violence at an event in Delhi.
"Citizen's vigilance, intellectuals vigilance, newspaper and media's vigilance can act as the biggest deterrent to the forces of darkness and backwardness," he said.
After a number of incidents of mob lynching, including the
killing of a 16-year-old Muslim boy by men on a train who
accused him of being a "cow-eater", PM Modi this week had said that the
killing of people by cow vigilantes is unacceptable.
An
increasing number of attacks by self-declared
gau rakshaks or cow vigilantes and violent crowds spurred nationwide protests this week under a campaign called "Not In My Name".
There have been
at least 17 cow or beef-related attacks by crowds in the last 22 months alone. Incidents like the
brutal killing of a police officer in Jammu and Kashmir last week have also added to concerns of rising instances of mob violence.