Unfit father, worthy son earlier, roles reversed now, says Yashwant Sinha
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Politics

Unfit father, worthy son earlier, roles reversed now, says Yashwant Sinha

Yashwant tweets after son says he was “only honouring due process of law” in meeting lynching convicts in Jharkhand.

Kumar Anshuman    
Union minister Jayant Sinha seen garlanding an alleged lyncher | Twitter

Union minister Jayant Sinha seen garlanding an alleged lyncher | Twitter

Yashwant tweets after son says he was “only honouring due process of law” in meeting lynching convicts in Jharkhand.

New Delhi: The row over Union Minister Jayant Sinha feting eight men convicted of lynching a Muslim trader only intensified Saturday, when Sinha defended his decision in a series of tweets, saying that he was only “honouring due process of law” while questioning the trial court’s verdict.

His father and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha joined in, saying that he did not approve of his son’s actions. “Earlier I was the Nalayak Baap of a Layak Beta. Now the roles are reversed. That is twitter. I do not approve of my son’s action. But I know even this will lead to further abuse. You can never win,” Yashwant Sinha tweeted Saturday evening.

The union minister’s tweets justifying his actions did little to quell the outrage online, where Twitter users repeatedly referred to Sinha’s qualifications, including his MBA degree from Harvard.

“Jayant Sinha is doing a distress sale of his reputation to pay for the performance bankruptcy of his masters … In Harvard they teach this to investment bankers,” tweeted Sid, a New Delhi-based lawyer.

https://twitter.com/sidmtweets/status/1015505834208583680

“Jayant Sinha has a Harvard MBA. He was a consultant at McKinsey and a partner at @OmidyarNetwork, the foundation of global philanthropist @pierre Pierre Omidyar,” tweeted Annie Gowen, the India bureau chief for The Washington Post.

Former Jharkhand chief minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha president, Hemant Soren, had earlier even tagged the Ivy League university in his criticism of Sinha’s actions.  “This is truly despicable. @Harvard Your alumnus @jayantsinha felicitating the accused in cow related lynching death in India. Is this what @Harvard stands for?,” he had tweeted Friday, when the controversy first broke out.

‘Honouring due process’

Breaking his silence on the controversy, Sinha had early on Saturday tweeted that he “unequivocally” condemned all acts of violence and rejecting “any type of vigilantism.”

“I have full faith in our judicial system and the rule of law. Unfortunately, irresponsible statements are being made about my actions when all that I am doing is honouring the due process of law. Those that are innocent will be spared and the guilty will be appropriately punished,” Sinha tweeted.

He also said he had misgivings about the fast track court verdict, adding that he was “pleased” that high court will hear the appeal of the eight convicts.

‘Game to win elections’

Sinha sparked the row Wednesday when he welcomed the eight men, including BJP leader Nityanand Mahto, all of whom have been convicted in the Ramgarh mob lynching case of 2017. While a fast track court sentenced the men to life in prison for allegedly lynching Alimuddin Ansari, a cattle trader, in June last year, the Ranchi High Court suspended the life sentence and granted the convicts bail.

When the men walked out of jail on 4 July, they headed straight to Sinha’s house on the outskirts of Hazaribagh. The union minister of state for civil aviation was waiting for them and welcomed them with garlands and sweets.

Once the photographs depicting Sinha’s actions emerged, the opposition was quick to slam the minister. “The BJP only wants to fan communal violence. Both the state and central government have failed to deliver on the ground,” said Ajoy Kumar, the Jharkhand Congress president. “Their entire game is to win the election and for that any leader of their party can go to any extent. I am not surprised at all. This is the real face of the party.”

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury accused the government of attempting to disturb the social fabric of the country. “We don’t need to look far to see who or which ideology is tearing our social fabric apart: when union ministers patronise those convicted of lynching,” he had tweeted.