HARDOI (UP): Vice President Hamid Ansari on Thursday said it’s the State’s responsibility to ensure right to life to every citizen irrespective of faith or creed. The remark assumes significance as it follows Monday’s killing of a man in Dadri, close to Delhi, by a mob which accused him of eating and storing beef.

Speaking at a seminar on communal amity here, the Vice President said Article 21 of the Constitution provides for right to life and it was the responsibility of not only the government but people as well to ensure that every Indian is secure. “We have our own religious books, but as a citizen, the Constitution is one religious book. It says right to life is a basic right of every citizen,” he said.

Ansari said a meeting of hearts and minds is essential for India to move ahead.

“Kaumi Ekta are two words. Whether it’s south or north, the entire India is one community and unity is necessary, which had been said by our ancestors since ages,” he said in the presence of governor Ram Naik.

“But if we need to organize a kaumi ekta sammelan, then it means that there is something amiss in unity,” he remarked.

He added that it was the need of the hour to “realize our duty and responsibilities towards the rights of every individual and spread the message of communal harmony”.

Addressing the seminar organized to mark the 65th birthday of SP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Agarwal, Ram Naik said there was a threat to the unity of the country. “We must find a solution to it together,” he said. “When I went to Ferozabad, I saw most of those involved in making bangles were Muslims and majority of those who buy these bangles were Hindus.”