JOIN USPrime Minister Narendra Modi’s condemnation of cow vigilantism is welcome, but it is too little and too late. The prime minister has been silent for more than a year on the issue of cow slaughter and the threats to and attacks on people and even the killing of one person by self-styled protectors of the cow in many places, especially in the BJP-ruled states. The issue has roiled society and politics for many months and the prime minister had ample opportunities to make his views on the matter clear. He talks and tweets to the nation regularly but has so far evaded the cow issue. He has now told state governments to crack down on the vigilante groups and sought to make a distinction between genuine and fake gau sevaks. He has also said that attacks on Dalits, who along with the minorities are the usual targets of vigilante groups, are attacks on himself.
It is when the attacks by cow vigilantes on Dalits became a political issue that the prime minister has chosen to speak on them. Dalits have held widespread protests after the inhuman attacks on some of them in Una in Gujarat. Attacks have also taken place in
Mandsaur in MP, Sonepat in Haryana, Chittorgarh in Rajasthan and in Punjab and Jharkhand. There is concern in the BJP leadership that the discontent and alienation of the Dalits on the cow slaughter and other issues can work against the party in next year’s Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab. The party has also been trying to reach out to Dalits everywhere in the country as part of a strategy to expand its political base. The prime minister’s criticism of vigilante groups will be seen as arising out of the concern that the party’s electoral and political plans may suffer if the attacks continue.
Modi had himself given traction to the theme of cow protection during his election campaigns. After the BJP came to power, it was taken up as a polarising issue by Sangh Parivar groups. The links of the Parivar associates with the vigilante groups are well known, however much they are denied. The distinction made by the prime minister between genuine and fake gau sevaks is in fact thin, much like the difference bet-
ween good and bad terrorists. It is too early to say what impact the prime minister’s words will have on the ground. He has only condemned the excesses of the ‘anti-social groups’, but still supports the theme of cow protection as such. As long as it remains on the political agenda, it will be difficult to curb actions driven by it.