New Delhi: The lynching of man in Dadri last month strongly appeared to be the result of "pre-meditated planning" under which people were incited using a temple, the National Minorities Commission has said.
In its report, the minority panel also described as "disturbing" the "irreponsible comments" by politicians to make "capital" out of it.
In an obvious reference to statements made by Union Minister Mahesh Sharma and some other BJP leaders following the lyching of Mohammed Iqlakh over rumours of beef eating that triggered a nation-wide outrage, the NCM said it will be "quite an understatement" to say the killing was merely an "accident as has been claimed even by some persons in authority".
A three-member team of the Commission headed by its chairman Naseem Ahmad had visited Bishada village near Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and interacted with family members of the victim, the concerned authorities and locals.
"The team feels that a crowd of large numbers appearing within minutes of an announcement from temple's loudspeaker and at a time when most villagers claimed they were asleep seems to point to some pre-meditated planning.
"The facts as reported to the NCM team point strongly that the whole episode was the result of a planning in which a sacred place like temple was used for exhorting people of one community to attack a hapless family," the report said.
Quoting district officials, the NCM noted that two more attempts had been made to "incite" people by spreading a rumour that a cow had been killed but police responded instantly and did not allow the situation to escalate.
50-year-old Iqlakh was beaten to death and his 22-year-old son Danish was critically injured by a 200-strong mob on September 28 following rumours that the family had consumed and stored beef.
In an apparent criticism of BJP leaders who made controversial comments after the incident, the NCM said such statements further "vitiate" the relations between different communities and this should be stopped at all cost or "things will go out of hand".
What is more "disturbing", the report said, is that "responsible persons converge at the place of any such incident and make irresponsible statements that further vitiates the relations between communities".
"All the political establishments need to counsel their cadres and sympathisers to desist from making irresponsible statements and making capital out of such outrages," it said.
The malaise of moral policing was spreading fast, especially in Western UP, it said and sought vigilance and curb on the use of social media as it was being extensively used to flare up communal passions.
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