'People have freedom to meet anyone': Nitin Gadkari defends Giriraj Singh and Jayant Sinha in exclusive interview with Firstpost

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Union minister Nitin Gadkari defended the actions of Jayant Sinha and Giriraj Singh and said debating such issues was irrelevant for the unity, unification and future of the country.

‘‘The Constitution gives Right to Freedom to it’s citizens to meet, speak and even garland whoever they want. How is this controversial?" he asked. Gadkari added that people are prying too much in others’ lives. ‘‘Why should this be made a public issue_?"_ he wondered. 

Sinha sparked a political row after welcoming eight men at his house on the outskirts of Hazaribagh and garlanding some of them. A mob lynched Alimuddin Ansari in Ramgarh on 29 June, 2017, on the suspicion he was carrying beef in his car.  A lower court convicted them, but the Jharkhand High Court later granted them bail.

Sinha was roundly criticised for his actions. 

Jharkhand state Congress chief Ajoy Kumar, talking to  News18,  said “Any kind of support to such elements is deplorable. This is the true color of BJP. They just want to win election and for that their leaders can cross any limit.”

Sinha later took to Twitter to defend himself:  

I unequivocally condemn all acts of violence and reject any type of vigilantism. The rule of law is supreme in our constitutional democracy. Any unlawful acts, particularly those that violate the rights of any citizen, should be punished with the full force of the law.

— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) July 7, 2018

In the Ramgarh case, the Hon'ble Ranchi High Court, which is the first court of appeal, has suspended the sentence of the accused and released them on bail while admitting their case. The case will once again be re-heard.

— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) July 7, 2018

Singh met with the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists  accused of rioting  and the family of a  man accused of spreading communal tensio n in Bihar’s Nawada district after a religious idol was found damaged. Angry mobs damaged vehicles, torched shops and pelted stones at the police.

Nawada district  magistrate Kaushal Kumar said as soon as the news spread, a protest erupted which led to violent clashes between two communities. Singh expressed grief and claimed that the “activists” were being “framed.”