JOIN USBreaking his silence on the spate of violence against the minorities in the name of cow vigilantism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged the states to take strong action against such protection groups.
Modi said he felt “sad” but at the same time “angry” at the “business of cow protection” and described most of these activists as “anti-social elements” masquerading as “gau rakshaks” (cow protection groups).
“I would request the state governments to prepare a dossier on cow protection groups and they would find that 70% to 80% of them are anti-social elements,” he said.
Modi had an interactive session in a maiden ‘town hall’ meet at Indira Gandhi stadium on the second anniversary of the MyGov initiative.
The ‘town hall’ concept was popularised by US President Barack Obama. “I have seen such people indulge in anti-social activities throughout the night and become protectors of the cow during the day,” Modi said.
His strong condemnation of the assaults perpetuated in the name of Hindutva comes after the Opposition sought his statement in Parliament on the issue and the outrage over the public flogging of Dalits in Una district in Gujarat, which was one of the reasons for a change of guard in Ahmedabad.
To counter the perception on eating habits, since Muslims and Dalits have been assaulted by vigilantes in a series of cases in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, Modi insisted that more cows died consuming plastics rather than by slaughter.
Doubting the intentions of such people, Modi said that if they really wanted to help cows, they should stop animals from eating plastics and spread awareness against the use of plastics and its disposal.
In a clear message to Hindutva fringe elements, he cautioned NGOs and activists against “torturing” and “oppressing” people in the guise of helping or protecting animals.
The prime minister also said that during the medieval period “badshahs would use cows as a defence to deter rajas from attacking during battles”.
What is town hall meeting
The town hall meeting concept, popularised after US president Barack Obama held one such interaction at Siri Fort auditorium in New Delhi on January 27 last year, owes its origin to informal exchanges between public figures and people in New England – a northeastern region of the US, DHNS reports. Modi used his first-ever town hall meet to reach out to citizens at the Indira Gandhi stadium in the national capital and answered televised questions from across and beyond the country.