Dadri like incidents hurt country's image: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

NEW YORK: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has condemned the lynching of a man over beef eating rumour in UP, saying such incidents hurt the country's image.

"India is a mature society. We need to rise above these kinds of incidents because they certainly don't give a good name as far as the country is concerned," he told reporters here after a lecture at Columbia University yesterday.

He was responding when asked to comment on the lynching incident in Dadri which has happened at a time when the government was wooing foreign investors.

"I have also said they can amount to policy diversions in that context so it is the responsibility of every Indian in his actions or comments to stay clear of unfortunate and condemnable instances like this," the senior BJP leader said.

A 50-year-old man was lynched and his son was critically injured by a mob in Dadri on last Monday after rumours that they had consumed beef.