In India, the cow has taken on communal colours. It would seem that eating beef is no longer the simple exercise of a food choice, but a pre-meditated act intended to offend Hindus and show disrespect to Hinduism.
The lynching of a Muslim, Mohammad Akhlaq, in Dadri last week, followed rumours that he had consumed beef, and an announcement over the loudspeaker in the midst of a kirtan from the local temple that a cow had been killed in the neighbourhood.
After the recent controversy over a meat ban effected in some areas during days of the Jain fasting period and Vinayaka Chaturthi, meat consumption moved up as a topic of discussion from dining areas to media platforms.
But if the meat ban threatened to divide Hindu society, the beef ban exacerbated the Hindu-Muslim divide as the cow has had the status of a sacred animal within many traditions of Hinduism. Unfounded rumours of a Muslim family consuming beef were enough to instigate a mob.
Banning cow slaughter is a key component of Hindutva politics. True, the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of legislation in many States against cow slaughter. And, prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle is part of the Directive Principles of State Policy.
Surely, Mr. Rajnath Singh is seeking to divert blame, and not clarify the issue in black and white, when he is asking that the killing of Akhlaq not be given a communal colour. To ignore the social context and the prevailing political atmosphere while situating the killing is to ignore the Hindutva politics of communal hate and religious intolerance. Those who feed the mob frenzy must be made accountable for the mob violence.
While debating about communalism we must accept the fact that there are fascist elements in all religious communities who want to disrupt the peace and order of our society. But they do NOT by any means represent the opinions of the rest of India. We are an incredibly diverse nation, and in spite of this we have sustained for 7 decades as one people.
Countries with fewer differences in culture, language and religion have broken apart within months. A nation of 29 nations we are, with a dozen religions, a thousand languages and countless castes. But India has – and will – endure. We must never forget this, and our leaders should never stop striving to make this country a more perfect Union.
Also, like everything these days, the Dadri incident has become political in nature. Politicians, the attention-seekers that some of them are, jumped into the controversy by either associating themselves with some of the players or making inflammatory statements.
Even after this tragic incident their desire for political traction and media fame is greater than their human empathy. Only a day after the incident the headlines were hijacked by politicians blaming each other (and not suggesting solutions to ensure that such an incident never occurred again).
The politicians who used the tension in Dadri and the suffering of the Akhlaq family to pander to their vote banks are – there is no other term for it – disgusting. One can only hope that these leaders don’t truly represent the sentiments of their constituents.
The lynching of a Muslim, Mohammad Akhlaq, in Dadri last week, followed rumours that he had consumed beef, and an announcement over the loudspeaker in the midst of a kirtan from the local temple that a cow had been killed in the neighbourhood.
After the recent controversy over a meat ban effected in some areas during days of the Jain fasting period and Vinayaka Chaturthi, meat consumption moved up as a topic of discussion from dining areas to media platforms.
But if the meat ban threatened to divide Hindu society, the beef ban exacerbated the Hindu-Muslim divide as the cow has had the status of a sacred animal within many traditions of Hinduism. Unfounded rumours of a Muslim family consuming beef were enough to instigate a mob.
Banning cow slaughter is a key component of Hindutva politics. True, the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of legislation in many States against cow slaughter. And, prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle is part of the Directive Principles of State Policy.
Surely, Mr. Rajnath Singh is seeking to divert blame, and not clarify the issue in black and white, when he is asking that the killing of Akhlaq not be given a communal colour. To ignore the social context and the prevailing political atmosphere while situating the killing is to ignore the Hindutva politics of communal hate and religious intolerance. Those who feed the mob frenzy must be made accountable for the mob violence.
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| Total Stats of Riots in india which spoiled Communal Peace |
Countries with fewer differences in culture, language and religion have broken apart within months. A nation of 29 nations we are, with a dozen religions, a thousand languages and countless castes. But India has – and will – endure. We must never forget this, and our leaders should never stop striving to make this country a more perfect Union.
Also, like everything these days, the Dadri incident has become political in nature. Politicians, the attention-seekers that some of them are, jumped into the controversy by either associating themselves with some of the players or making inflammatory statements.
Even after this tragic incident their desire for political traction and media fame is greater than their human empathy. Only a day after the incident the headlines were hijacked by politicians blaming each other (and not suggesting solutions to ensure that such an incident never occurred again).
The politicians who used the tension in Dadri and the suffering of the Akhlaq family to pander to their vote banks are – there is no other term for it – disgusting. One can only hope that these leaders don’t truly represent the sentiments of their constituents.
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