'Lynching of youth an example of religious intolerance': Sougata Roy slams BJP in Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: TMC member Saugata Roy on Wednesday said the incident of lynching of youth in Jharkhand is an example of religious intolerance and instead of attacking the West Bengal government, the BJP should look into the affairs of the state ruled by it.

Raising the matter during the Zero Hour, Roy said it was a "cold-blooded murder" of 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari as police held the youth, who had sustained severe head injuries, in custody for four days. It is a blot on humanity, the Trinamool Congress MP said.

"BJP members are speaking about West Bengal, but not taking steps on what is happening in Jharkhand and other places. This is an example of religious intolerance and the TMC will continue to protest against mob lynching," Roy said.

Ansari was thrashed by a mob for alleged theft on June 18 and a video had emerged which purportedly showed that he was forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Jai Hanuman' in Jharkhand's Saraikela Kharsawan district.

K Muraleedharan (Cong) raised the issue of surging airfares, especially during festival season and summer vacation, from Kerala to Gulf countries. He said cost of international flight tickets go up by up to 400 per cent.

"I urge the Ministry of Civil Aviation to take steps to reduce airfares from Kerala to Gulf countries," he said.

Raising the issue of escalating tensions between the US and Iran, B Mahtab (BJD) said "maximum pressure tactics of the US have led to this situation". He said India has been impacted due to the US imposed sanctions on Iran as oil import bill would go up.

"India should finely balance the situation as it has significant interest with the two countries. While US-Iran relation is in abyss, India should engage in closed-door diplomatic deliberations to ease the tension," he said.