New Delhi:  Union Minister Jayant Sinha has come  under the attack of Congress President Rahul Gandhi who has said that "if the sight of a highly educated MP & Central Minister, Jayant Sinha, garlanding & honouring criminals convicted of lynching an innocent man, fills you with disgust, click on the link & support this petition."

The online petition shared by Gandhi on Twitter has been originally generated by political observer Prateek Kanwal who has marked a copy to the President of Harvard University. The letter states “Mr. Jayant Sinha, a Minister in the Central Government and an Alumni of Harvard University, recently garlanded and honored convicts accused of lynching Mr. Alimuddin Ansari. These actions by the Minister have shocked the nation and brought disrepute to our great institution. As a responsible citizen of this country and as an Alumni of Harvard, I strongly condemn these actions and ask the Harvard University to withdraw his Alumni status."



Sinha had recently given rise to a political storm by welcoming eight men who were convicted in the Ramgarh lynching case in Jharkhand with a garland. Justifying his actions, Sinha said that the Ranchi High Court has suspended the sentence of the accused and released them on bail.

In a picture that has gone viral, the Union Minister could be seen garlanding the convicts in the Ramgarh lynching case in Jharkhand at his residence on the outskirts of Hazaribagh.


Responding to the heavy criticism, the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation said on Twitter, "In the Ramgarh case (mob lynching), the Ranchi High Court, which is the first court of appeal, has suspended the sentence of the accused and released them on bail while admitting their case. The case will once again be re-heard."

Sinha has had the privilege of studying at some of the prestigious educational institutions like IIT Delhi and Harvard Business School. However, this act of his did not justify his stature. His father, Yashwant Sinha, once a stalwart of the BJP, recently quit the party. In the past few years, he left no opportunity to lambaste the saffron party.

Jharkhand lynching case

A Ramgarh Court had sentenced the 11 accused, in connection with the Alimuddin murder case in Ramgarh district to a lifetime in prison. Alimuddin, also known as Asgar Ansari, was intercepted by a mob and beaten to death in June last year over suspicions of transporting beef in his vehicle near Bazartand village. The mob later set the vehicle ablaze.

Following the lynching incident, section 144 was imposed in Ramgarh.

(With inputs from ANI)