Vigilante murder state’s shame

Vigilante violence has come closer to Bengaluru at an electorally sensitive time with the killing of a Muslim cattle trader, Idrees Pasha, by a gang in Ramanagara district on Sunday. Pasha, who was driving a vehicle in which buffaloes were being transported for sale, was tortured and killed by a gang allegedly led by a Hindutva activist, Puneeth Kerehalli. Vigilante attacks against cattle traders have taken place in the coastal districts and areas where Hindutva groups are active but places like the Old Mysore region have rarely witnessed them. The police have registered a case of murder and started investigation, but it should not be seen as an ordinary murder case. In states ruled by the BJP, cow vigilantes have conducted themselves under police protection. The killers of two men who were accused of cow smuggling in Haryana a few weeks ago were police informers.

Karnataka now has a cow protection law, passed in 2021, with very stringent provisions, loaded in favour of cow vigilantism. The law was part of a series of actions and decisions of the BJP government and of a campaign promoted by the party to exacerbate the communal atmosphere in the state and to polarise society between majority and minority communities. The controversies over hijab, halal, azaan and other issues were also elements of the campaign. The law even provided protection for cow vigilantes as persons “acting in good faith”. All cattle traders stood the risk of being dubbed cow slaughterers and since most traders are from the minority community, they became easy targets. The law legitimises attacks now. More than protecting the cow, perhaps, attacking a cattle trader gives the vigilantes the satisfaction of attacking their pet object of hate.

The killing in Ramanagara district should be seen against this background. On social media, there are photos of the leader of the killer gang posing with BJP leaders. The Old Mysore area is a region the BJP has been trying to penetrate by polarising votes and creating a communal divide. The vigilante killing at the start of the campaign for the Assembly election is bound to have a baneful impact. The state Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan had declared recently that the “elections are being turned into a battle between cow protectors and cow slaughterers”, though he blamed the Congress for that. The killing is not just about elections, either. It is a dastardly crime that puts under question mark the law-and-order situation in the state. It was the State’s responsibility to protect the life and livelihood of a person who was carrying on a legal and legitimate trade, and it failed in that.