Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned a closed door meeting of top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders of the danger of a chasm with the people. Indirectly admitting the possibility of poor communication of the Government’s development-oriented schemes to improve the lives of the most marginalised sections of society, the Prime Minister said, “we are committed to bring a change in the life of a common man and poorest of the poor”.
The August 23 meeting with around 400 top party leaders was ostensibly to officially close the 15-day patriotism drive to mark the 70th anniversary of independence, which showcased the BJP’s non-partisan nationalism across the country, in the run-up to crucial elections in states like Uttar Pradesh (2017) and Gujarat (2018).
It comes in the wake of a series of incidents against Scheduled Caste members, which the BJP believes are orchestrated to derail its development narrative, on the line of the ‘church attacks’ prior to the Delhi Assembly elections in 2015 and the ‘award wapsi’ that preceded the Bihar elections earlier this year.
In this context, Modi urged the state leaderships to ensure that there were no gaps in reaching benefits to the weakest sections, “we should pay attention to ensure how the Government’s development-oriented schemes reach out to the bottom strata of the society”.
He added, “We are continuously engaged in development-oriented work, but there are some elements who don’t like it, they are trying to distract ours and the public’s attention from it, but we have to make the common man aware that our sole goal is ‘National Building’”. In essence, the Prime Minister reiterated his mantra of sabka saath, sabka vikas.
The comments about hostile elements trying to distract popular attention away from the regime’s efforts to provide succor to the last man (Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s antodaya concept), proved prescient. The next morning (August 24), some newspapers reported him as having made a politically explosive statement: “Rashtravadi toh hamare saath hain, humein Dalit aur pichchde ko saath lana hai.” (The nationalists are with us, we need to bring Dalits and backward groups with us).
Persons present at the meeting denied that such language was used, and party spokespersons expressed astonishment, stating that the media were provided with an official copy of the speech.
The Prime Minister is also devoting personal attention to the plight of leather tanners, who mostly belong to the Scheduled Castes, who are being targetted by vigilantes in Gujarat (Una) and other places (Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, to name a few) by those professing to be opposed to cow slaughter and the sale of beef.
Since it is well known that dead cows are skinned for leather, a practice going back to ancient times, it is widely believed that there is a devious motive behind the sudden eruption of targetted violence against traditional tanners.
The preposterous claim that the perpetrators believed that the tanners had killed the cows cannot be sustained. The fact that incidents of violence continued even after tanners began refusing to skin cows in some places suggests a deep-seated game plan has been put into operation.
There has long been an organised cow protection racket in some states, as was claimed by the Prime Minister in his town hall meeting some days ago; this brings handsome remuneration to its members. These vigilantes charge a fee per cow/per truck to permit the movement of cattle across state boundaries, and fleece both legitimate and illegitimate trading.
It seems likely that some of the vigilante ‘labour’ may have been directed towards leather tanners by certain interests, and it is up to the police and intelligence agencies to discover the link.
The arrest of Punjab Gau Raksha Dal chief, Satish Kumar, by the Patiala Police on August 21, could result in a decline in incidents of vigilantism, at least in northern India. Kumar was arrested in Vrindavan, Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh, for a series of criminal cases, ranging from abduction, extortion, sodomy, and brutally thrashing and harassing people in the name of ‘cow protection’.
This validates the Prime Minister’s contention that most cow vigilantes are ‘anti-social’ elements who are running ‘shops’ in the name of cow protection. He directed all affected state governments to prepare dossiers on these alleged cow protectors. His comments enraged members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, who issued strong statements on the issue of cow protection. Now, however, the RSS has issued instructions that no organisation affiliated to the Sangh Parivar should attack the Prime Minister publicly.
That cow vigilantism is a little recognised but serious crime became evident when the Karnataka Police arrested 18 members of an organisation called Hindu Jagarana Vedike for murdering a BJP worker, Praveen Poojary, who was transporting three calves, in Udupi district (August 18, 2016). Poojary was a tempo driver and transported goods for a living. His friend, Akshay Devadiga, was seriously injured during the attack.
The issue is unlikely to die down. Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, Shankaracharya of Dwarka Peeth, has joined the fray, saying cow is the mother of not only Hindus but also of Muslims as its milk is equally beneficial for believers of both faiths. Calling for a ban on cow slaughter and sale of meat, the Shankaracharya says that saving the cow is in the interest of Indians, regardless of religious affiliations.
Elaborating the multiple qualities of cow, he said that apart from the nutritional benefits of cow milk, cow urine is used to cure deadly diseases, and there are many uses of its skin and bones after death.
This last statement is significant. The skinning of dead cows is an ancient and ongoing practice, and many industries thrive upon it. It seems obvious that the attacks on tanners is not misguided but deliberate, and possibly has a political motive to derail a party known to revere the cow.
ABPlive.in, 26 August 2016