Dimapur lynching: Assam MPs attack Nagaland government, demand inquiry

Two Congress members of the Lok Sabha from Assam, Gaurav Gogoi and Sushmita Deb, on Monday demanded an inquiry into the lynching of an alleged rapist in Dimapur last week.

Taking up the matter during zero hour, Gogoi attacked the Nagaland government for its failure to prevent the incident. “He was an Indian citizen and not a Bangladeshi as was claimed,” Gogoi said referring to Syed Farid Khan beaten to death by a crowd even while the state and central security forces were there.

Gogoi said even now “there is no clarity or an official statement from the Nagaland Government” if the man was actually guilty of rape. He said Muslims in the region were being considered Bangladeshis even though Khan happened to come from a family of Army personnel. He wondered why there was no intelligence about the “mobilisation” of 5,000 people and an “orchestrated” attack.

He said, “We hope that justice for all — justice for the rape victim, justice for Syed’s family, justice for the legal system and justice for the peace of the whole of Northeast will prevail. Such incidents threaten the social harmony of northeastern India… We respect the law. We do not want retaliatory attacks in Assam to happen; we do not want retaliatory attacks in Nagaland to happen… Therefore, it is important that the Central Government takes it seriously.”

Deb said, “Even a rape accused should go through a criminal judicial system,” emphasising that the rape victim had reposed her faith in the same process by lodging a complaint. “Racial profiling of people in the Northeast must stop,” she said while conceding that illegal immigration is a big problem in the region.

Ramen Deka (BJP) termed the Dimapur incident very “unfortunate” and backed the demand for justice for the dead man.

Source:: Indian Express