On Tuesday, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat criticised the increasing cases of mob violence, but also claimed that the incidents were not ‘one sided’.
According to The Times of India, he said that the term ‘lynching’ was part of an effort to defame India and the Hindu community and create fear among the ‘so-called minority communities’.
While delivering the RSS’s Vijaydashmi speech at Reshmibagh ground in Nagpur, he said,
It must be accepted that these tendencies of violence have… crossed the limits of law and order and wreaked havoc by eroding mutual relations in society. Neither this tendency is the tradition of our country, nor does it fit in the spirit of the Constitution.
He also added,
By branding such incidents by words like ‘lynching’, denoting traditions which were alien to Bharat and belong elsewhere, efforts are underway to defame our country and the entire Hindu society.
Bhagwat’s statements are being seen as a reference to violence by gau rakshaks.
His speech was met with protest by Congress, who asked that he clarify whether he supports or condemns incidents of mob violence, or if he just just objects to the terminology.