After Jayant Sinha, Giriraj meets riot accused, flays Nitish government

PATNA: A day after his cabinet colleague Jayant Sinha had drawn flak for felicitating eight cow vigilantes convicted of killing a meat trader in Jharkhand, Union minister and BJP's Nawada MP Giriraj Singh stoked another controversy by visiting the Nawada district jail and meeting Bajrang Dal and VHP members recently arrested for allegedly inflaming communal passions.
Alliance partner JD(U) was quick to criticise Giriraj's jail visit on Saturday, where he praised the arrested activists for their "role in maintaining peace" and accused the Nitish Kumar government of implicating them accused in "false cases".
"It is very unfortunate that the state government feels communal harmony will be maintained only if it suppresses Hindus. I request the government and the society to let go of this kind of perception," the minister said.
JD(U) dismissed Giriraj's charges on Sunday and condemned his meeting with the riot accused in jail. In Delhi, JD(U) national secretary general KC Tyagi said the Union minister's meeting with the riot accused couldn't be condoned in a "healthy democracy".
Taking strong exception to Giriraj's remark about Hindus being "suppressed" by the administration in Bihar, Tyagi said, "Be it Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian, they all are safer in Bihar than in any other part of the country. Such comments increase tension in society."
Giriraj had met the riot accused for 30 minutes and inquired about their health and families. After the meeting, he had said that the men had been framed.
"It is unfortunate the way Jitu ji and Kailash ji have been framed. When tension arose during Ram Navami in 2017, they worked to restore peace in the area. They did the same work when an idol of Goddess Durga was vandalised at Akbarpur in Nawada district," Giriraj told reporters outside the jail.
Bajrang Dal leader Jitendra Pratap was arrested on July 3 for his alleged role in the riots in 2017. On July 4, his supporters took to the streets, which led to the arrest of five others.
Unmoved by the criticism, Giriraj on Sunday met the family of a man accused of engineering clashes in Nawada in March this year. There too, he said the accused had maintained peace at the time of crisis. He urged the district administration to conduct a "thorough investigation" and called for a speedy trial in the case.