Tripura Lynching: Education and Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath labelled ‘rumor-monger’

In just the past month, 14 Indians have been killed in lynchings: Two people each in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura, Maharashtra, Bengal, Telangana and one each in Gujarat and Karnataka. These are just the recorded fatalities. A publication that was recording the number of incidents of such hate crimes was instructed by the government to stop, and it did, reported First Post.

Tripura Minister for Education and Law Ratan Lal Nath had visited the boy’s family the same day, June 26, and in a video, was heard telling a gathering that “the kidney was taken out of the boy’s body after making a round cut”. Nath also said “never had Tripura witnessed such an incident” and that the incident was linked to “kidney smugglers” with probable “international” connections. Chief Minister Biplab Deb confirmed the same in the assembly.

But by then, a video of Nath speaking about child lifters and an ‘international hand’ in the ‘smuggling’ had been already widely circulated. To limit cases of mob lynching, the police are doing their best.

Senior CPI(M) leader Gautam Das called for Nath’s resignation and held him responsible for rumors. “Nath should bear full responsibility and resign. Otherwise, he should be sacked,” he said. Congress called Nath ‘the pioneer of rumour-mongering’.

On the government’s decision to suspend internet services, a party spokesperson said, “The government is creating more fear among the people.”The Tripura police have started meeting locals of cities and interior areas to advise them against believing such rumors.

The suspension of internet has helped, they said. The police also counselled some teenagers who posted and forwarded such messages. The police have arrested eight in connection to the deaths, and hope the extensive outreach program will help restore normalcy in the state soon.

Tripura Minister for Education and Law Ratan Lal Nath had visited the boy’s family the same day, June 26, and in a video, was heard telling a gathering that “the kidney was taken out of the boy’s body after making a round cut”. Nath also said “never had Tripura witnessed such an incident” and that the incident was linked to “kidney smugglers” with probable “international” connections.

Consequently, there were several media reports saying the boy’s kidneys were “probably missing”. The next day, Chief Minister Biplab Deb too visited the family, though hours later, he told the Assembly that the kidneys of the boy had been found intact in a post-mortem.

But by then, rumours of child-lifters being on the move had spread across several parts of the state. On June 28, three people were killed in different districts over suspicion of trying to kidnap children. A woman was killed in Sipahijhala district, whose name and age have not been disclosed.

Then in West Tripura, a hawker from Uttar Pradesh, 30-year-old Zahir Khan, was killed while three people accompanying him were injured in an attack. The same evening, Sukanta Chakraborty, 36, hired by the administration to make announcements against child-lifting rumours, was attacked by a mob in Kalachhara in South Tripura district and killed. A government official and a driver accompanying him were injured.

Police said eight people had been arrested for the lynchings, four for the killing of Chakraborty, and four for the woman’s death. Police are yet to make any headway in Khan’s lynching. A senior official said they were in “the process of identifying the accused”.

Also Read:UP man lynched in Tripura on suspicion of being child lifter

Defending his remarks, Nath told The Sunday Express that whatever he said that night at the boy’s home was “in the interest of the people”. “The parents of the killed minor were saying that the kidneys were taken. Thousands of people who had gathered said that the kidneys were taken. There would have been an outburst had I said the opposite. My comments that night were to ventilate the sentiments of the family of the victim and the gathered crowd. It was to give importance to the sentiments of the parents and the crowd,” he said.

The CPM has demanded Nath’s resignation, saying his “irreponsible” statements had led to the killings. Senior CPM leader Gautam Das said, “Nath’s comments went viral before the rumour was dispelled by the Chief Minister. Since then, several incidents of thrashing of innocent people suspected to be ‘child-lifters’ have taken place… Nath should bear full responsibility and resign. Otherwise, he should be sacked.”

Calling Nath “the pioneer of rumour-mongering”, the Congress has said it will seek a judicial inquiry. The BJP, led by CM Deb, however, has accused people associated with the CPM of instigating the lynchings. Tripura BJP spokesperson Mrinal Kanti Deb said he saw a “conspiracy by the CPM” in posting rumours and fake news on social media.

Talking about Chakraborty’s killing, Superintendent of Police of South Tripura district J S Meena said he was attacked when he was making announcements at a crowded market place that people should not believe in rumours being spread on social media.

The lynchings in Tripura follow the killing on June 8 of two people in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district over suspicion of being child abductors. The Assam Police had later arrested at least 40 people across the state for posting ‘inflammatory’ or ‘hateful comments’ on social media.