Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha's severe rebuke to his son, Union Minister Jayant Sinha, for feting Ramgarh lynching accused found huge traction on twitter on Sunday, including an RT by Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Showing his angst against his son's behaviour, Sinha had tweeted: "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."
Sinha was photographed 'garlanding' the eight men convicted in the killing of coal trader Alimuddin Ansari in June last year in a case of alleged cow vigilantism in Ramgarh, Jharkhand.
Apparently, the strong reaction to his act made Jayant Sinha a little circumspect as in a series of tweets he issued clarifications, at first trying to claim that the sentence of the accused has been suspended and they were on bail and then saying that he unequivocally rejects any type of vigilantism and those who violate the rights of any citizen should be punished.
Unable to decide which way to swing, Jayant Sinha again tweeted saying that he has repeatedly expressed misgivings about the Fast-Track Court's judgement, sentencing each accused to life imprisonment, and was pleased that the High Court will hear the matter to test the correctness of the Fast-Track Court's order.
But the delayed and conditional clarification did not prove enough as political leaders of several parties lashed out at him and his party — the BJP.
"Eight accused convicted for lynching are garlanded by Jayant Sin .. when granted bail. You got it wrong Modiji. They say your Government has become Lynch-Pujari," tweeted Congress leader Kapil Sibal.
Reacting sharply, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said: "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."
While Yashwant Sinha got rave praises for standing tall and not sparing his son on social media, Jayant had to face strong reaction, including by Bollywood celebrities like Swara Bhaskar and Neerak Ghaywan.
