Violence in name of faith won’t be tolerated: Modi

new delhi — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said violence in the name of faith will not be tolerated and the guilty definitely punished.

His remarks came during his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme on All India Radio, two days after violence in Haryana and elsewhere following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh led to the death of 36 persons.

Without naming any state, the prime minister said that when news of violence comes from a “part of the country, it is only natural to be concerned”.

“I want to assure my countrymen that people who take law into their own hands and are on the path of violent suppression — whether it is a person or a group — neither this country nor any government will tolerate it. Each and every person will have to abide by the law; the law will fix accountability and the guilty will unquestionably be punished,” Modi said.

The prime minister also referred to his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort in which he had warned those indulging in mob violence.

“We have been hearing and saying ‘Ahimsa Parmo Dharmah’ (nonviolence is supreme) since our childhood. In my address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, I had said that violence in the name of faith will not be tolerated, whether it is communal belief systems, whether it is subscribing to political ideologies, whether it is allegiance to a person or customs and traditions. No one has the right to take the law into one’s own hands in the name of one’s beliefs,” he said.

At least 30 persons were killed on Friday as security forces fired at rampaging mobs in Panchkula town in Haryana after a CBI court held Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh guilty of rape and sexual exploita- tion. Six people died in Sirsa, where the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters is located.

Modi said the values of nonviolence and mutual respect have been imbibed in Indians over the centuries.

“Ours is the country of Buddha and Gandhi, it is the land of Sardar Patel who gave up his all for the unity of the nation. For centuries, our forefathers have imbibed community values, non-violence, mutual respect — these are inherent to us.” —