New Delhi, Oct 14 (NDTV): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken for the first time on the mob killing of a Muslim in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri over beef rumours, calling it "really sad" but also conveying that his government had little to do in the case.
"Incidents like Dadri and Ghulam Ali are really sad but what is the role of the Centre in them?" PM Modi has told the newspaper Anandabazar Patrika.
Taking on opposition leaders who have for days targeted him over what they described his "deafening silence" on the Dadri killing, the prime minister accused them of playing the politics of polarization.
"The same debate has happened in the past. The BJP has always opposed pseudo-secularism. Now they are using these sad incidents to revive the debate. The BJP does not support such incidents. The opposition is using these incidents to accuse the BJP of communalism but isn't the opposition playing the politics of polarization?" the prime minister said.
On September 28 in a village in Dadri, 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq was dragged out of his home by a mob and beaten to death after announcements were made at a local temple about a calf being killed.
Many of the men arrested for the lynching are linked to a local BJP leader.
PM Modi had been criticised by rival parties for not speaking up on the incident even as his party men made incendiary remarks.
Last week while campaigning in Bihar, Mr Modi did not mention Dadri as he urged Hindus and Muslims to fight poverty, not each other. "Because of politics and for petty gains, people are making irresponsible statements. I appeal to citizens not to take them seriously. Even if Narendra Modi himself says something like that, don't listen to him," he said at a rally.
The prime minister's comments come at a time his government is confronting strong condemnation over what critics call rising intolerance in India, following attacks on rationalists and violent protests by ally Shiv Sena against events involving prominent Pakistanis like singer Ghulam Ali and former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri.
In the past few days, over 20 writers have returned prestigious awards to record their protest against the Dadri killing and the murder of three rationalists in Maharashtra.