Rumour-driven lynching movement under Modi government: Congress
New Delhi, July 2: Blaming the Modi government for launching a "rumour-driven lynching movement" in the country, Congress said "absolute anarchy, mob-frenzy and jungle raj" have become new symbols of Prime Minister Narandra's Modi "New India".
The party said a new spate of lynchings has taken place whereby child-kidnappers have become a new medium of rumour mongering and mob justice and blamed the government of "abetting" in many such cases and giving "political patronage".
It said within the last month or so, nearly 30 Indians have been lynched - five people in Maharashtra's Dhule on Sunday, two earlier in Maharashtra, seven in Jharkhand, four people in Tripura, two people each in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Telangana and one each in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.
"Absolute anarchy, mob frenzy and jungle raaj have become the new symbols of Modi's 'New India'. There is an unprecedented atmosphere of hate and violence.
"Rumour mongering, state-aided license to kill, decimation of rule of law leading to a 'lynching movement' have shaken our national conscience," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
"When the state gives the 'license to kill' with impunity and abdicates its solemn responsibility to uphold the rule of law, resulting in vigilantism, death and merciless killings of innocent lives, then each one of us should castigate it, decry it and question it," he said.
"In the past four years, we have added a new word in our socio-political vocabulary and that phrase is 'lynchings'. Under the Modi government, this new phenomena is getting a definite political patronage.
"What is absolutely reprehensible is that the state has completely abdicated its responsibility in the quest to add fuel to this madness. In many cases it has also assisted, aided and abetted such acts of violence and even justified and condoned them," he added.
Citing incidents of lynchings in Assam's Karbi Anglong, Tripura, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, Singhvi said: "What is most distressing that in case after case - the ministers of BJP-ruled states and its leaders have either been a cause of abetment or flagrantly justified this phenomenon."
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FIFA gives more time for investigations into Israeli soccer asked for by Palestinian officials
Asuncion (Paraguay) (AP): Palestinian officials were left frustrated after FIFA gave no clear timeline to report on two investigations into Israeli soccer opened last year.
FIFA asked its disciplinary body last October to study allegations of discrimination by the Israeli soccer federation, and its governance panel to advise if teams from Israeli settlements in the West Bank playing in national competitions breached the governing body's statues.
The Palestinian soccer federation's renewed claims to FIFA last year are part of a 15-year campaign seeking action against settlement clubs.
"Let's not wait another year. We need to act now,” Palestinian soccer official Susan Shalabi, a member of the Asian Football Confederation's executive committee, urged FIFA leaders.
“All we are asking for is a clear update on the status of the matter and an exact date in which the investigation will be concluded,” she said.
Shalabi asked FIFA to set a one-month deadline for the governance panel to report back to the ruling council chaired by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
The Palestinians' issues in soccer are “visible, undeniable but sadly ignored,” she said, getting warm applause after a nine-minute speech.
FIFA responded after no member federation at the Congress, including Israel, took up an invitation to speak.
FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström said the two investigations need more time and new members elected on Thursday had to be informed on the issues.
“The committees are working diligently to conclude what is clearly a highly complex topic,” he said.
