Justice before votebanks: Modi asks Manmohan to act against Shinde

Days after Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde advised chief ministers to ensure that Muslim youth are not detained wrongfully, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking for action against Shinde. It was a brazen attempt to woo the minorities, according to Modi’s missive to the PM. [caption id=“attachment_1341651” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi. Reuters[/caption] A report in The Indian Express said Modi’s letter condemned the suggestion of review committees to assess cases and evidence against youth of the minority community languishing in jails on terror trials without being charged. Such a suggestion, according to Modi, was unconstitutional and in contravention of the right to equality before the law. According to the report, Modi has said: “A crime is a crime irrespective of the birth marks of the criminal. His religious beliefs could not determine the guilt or innocence.” The Economic Times quoted his letter: “Thankfully, our criminal justice system has never taken into account faith or religion of an accused. Why bring votebank politics even here?” The BJP had responded immediately to Shinde’s suggestion, stating that the Congress was playing politics at the cost of justice. The Union Minister’s statement was a “new low”, Modi has said, demanding that justice not be sacrificed for political expediency. Earlier, Shinde had written to state governments, including to Gujarat chief minister, stating that strict and prompt action would e taken against police officers for any malafide arrest of members of a minority community.