Dadri lynching: Maneka Gandhi says arrested youths not involved

New Delhi: Union Minister Maneka Gandhi on Friday decried attempts to "politicise" the Dadri lynching incident and attacked Uttar Pradesh government, saying it was attempting to mislead the people.

Condemning the incident where a Muslim man was lynched by a mob over beef eating rumour, the Woman and Child Development Minister said that communal harmony of the country should not be disturbed over any issue.

"Like the President and the Prime Minister have said, communal harmony of the country should not be disturbed over any issue," said Maneka, who is also an animal rights activist.

Targeting the Uttar Pradesh government, she said that the incident was being politicised and that innocent people were being made to suffer.

"The UP government is manipulating and I know two youths, the names of whom are being dragged into this. They have nothing to do with the issue. The incompetence of the the UP police and UP government's attempts to mislead people is highly condemnable. The entire issue is being politicised. Whosoever is involved in the incident should be punished and law of the land should prevail," said Maneka.

The Minister was speaking after inaugurating the new office building "Nirbhaya Bhawan" of National Commission for Women (NCW) at Jasola in the presence of NCW chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam.

Nirbhaya Bhawan is named in the memory of December 16 gang-rape victim. Currently, the headquarters of National Commission of Women (NCW) are located on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg.

The new NCW headquarter is a four-storey building having several amenities like a ladies common room, creche, counselling rooms and a 300-seater auditorium to host programmes.

Maneka also said that the building will become functional in a month's time.