By
Nishant Sirohi
HUMAN Rights Watch (HRW) in its
104-page report unveiled the horrors of cow vigilantism in India. The report
reflected the impact of the so-called cow protection through vigilantism, on
the society, rural economy and on the forthcoming national elections.
In the quest for short term electoral
gains and to appease its constituency, the ruling party is stoking the issue of
cow protection, without considering the long-term impact that cow vigilantism
is likely to have on the social fabric of the country, the livelihood of
sections of the rural population and indeed India’s political culture and
constitutional values.
According to the HRW report,
approximately 44 people have been killed by extremist cow protection vigilante
groups. In many instances, the lynch mobs have received the protection of right-wing
Hindu local politicians while law enforcement agencies have turned a blind eye.
The HRW report claims: “Between May
2015 and December 2018, at least 44 people—36 of them Muslims—were killed
across 12 Indian states. Over that same period, around 280 people were injured
in over 100 different incidents across 20 states”.
Communal agenda to polarise religious
groups is the main reason why stir-up the cow protection issue. The report
asserted that “Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), since coming to
power at the national level in May 2014, have increasingly used communal
rhetoric that has spurred a violent vigilante campaign against beef consumption
and those deemed linked to it”.
Cows are considered to be sacred in
Hinduism, and slaughtering of cows is forbidden in most parts of India.
However, in the past couple of years, cow protection has often been used as an
excuse to exacerbate tensions between the religious communities for political
gains. The report says, “Since beef is consumed largely by religious and ethnic
minorities, BJP leaders, in seeking to appeal to Hindu voters, have made strong
statements about the need to protect cows that have enabled, and at times may
have incited communal violence”.
M L Parihar, Rajasthan-based author and
expert on animal husbandry, quoted in the report, says: “Hindutva leaders who
are promoting this obsession with cows don’t realise how much loss they are
causing to their own Hindu community, and the damage they are causing to their
country”.
Reflecting on the rise in cases of mob
lynching and killing of dairy farmers, especially against Muslims and Dalits,
HRW in its report said “vigilante attacks by cow protection groups and stricter
laws on cow slaughter and transportation of cattle have disrupted India’s
cattle trade and the rural agricultural economy, as well as leather and meat
export industries that are linked to farming and dairy sectors”.
The fear of cow vigilantes has forced
hundreds of slaughterhouses to shut down, destroying the livelihood of dairy
farmers and labourers in the meat and leather industry.
The report says “India is the largest
beef exporter in the world, exporting buffalo meat worth about US$4 billion a
year. However, after the BJP government came to power in 2014, exports have
mostly declined. The leather industry has also been affected, with a government
economic survey noting that despite having a large cattle population, India’s
share of cattle leather exports is low and declining due to limited
availability of cattle for slaughter”.
While accounting the economic impacts
of cow vigilantism, the reports note that the country’s rural economy has been
disrupted by the vigilante violence, which also hurts many Hindus. The report
says “Dalits and Muslims are disproportionately affected by the attacks in the
name of cow protection. While slaughterhouses and meat shops are mostly run by
Muslims, Dalits traditionally dispose of cattle carcasses and skin them for
commercial purposes such as leather and leather goods. However, disruption of
the rural economy has affected all communities whether Hindu, Muslim, Dalit,
tribal, or nomadic”.
“In some cases, alleged perpetrators
enjoyed open political patronage. For instance, BJP minister Jayant Sinha
welcomed the release on bail of the men convicted of killing Alimuddin Ansari
in Jharkhand in June 2017, following their appeal of the conviction in a higher
court. The released defendants had gone to thank Sinha for his legal
assistance, where he garlanded them and posed for photographs”, the report
claimed.
“It is this moral messaging that spurs
lynch mobs in every corner of the country to turn upon their victims with the
cruelty and loathing that has penetrated the souls of young people, even
children,” said Harsh Mander, the human rights activists, quoted in the report.
Repeated incidents of mob lynching and
attacks on people in the name of cow protection are an example of the complete
collapse of constitutional values. The secular framework of law is being
compromised by the religious outfits to inflame communal passions which are
using lawless means of violence to intimidate and punish minorities.
In July 2018, the Supreme Court in
Tehseen S. Poonawalla & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors, (2018) 9 SCC 501,
issued a series of directives for preventive, remedial and punitive measures to
address mob-lynching. The Supreme Court denounced violent attacks by so-called
cow protectors, saying “it is imperative for them to remember that they are
subservient to the law and cannot be guided by notions or emotions or
sentiments or, for that matter, faith”.
Even after the Supreme Court
interfered and passed strict directions, the central and state governments
failed to protect minority communities from communal attacks by cow-protection
vigilantes. Neither the central nor the state governments took adequate steps
to prosecute those responsible for violating the constitutional rights to life,
non-discrimination, equal protection of the law, and the right to pursue a
livelihood.
After the Supreme Court directed
Central and State Governments to publicly make statements and spread the
message that “lynching and mob violence of any kind shall invite serious
consequence under the law”, the Government should not endorse or be complicit
in using religious belief to advance discrimination and perpetrated violence
against minority communities.
Even as India attempts to move beyond
its rigid caste system, the upper-caste Hindus who abstain from eating meat are
increasingly imposing their vegetarian culture on a country where many eat meat
and where buffalo is a cheap source of protein for poor Muslims and Dalits.
The current Government policies are
going against the constitutional values of equality, equal protection and
respect for all lives. Recently, while delivering a speech at an event
organised by the Bombay Bar Association, Justice DY Chandrachud said, “When a
person is lynched for the food he or she had, it is the Constitution which gets
lynched”.(IPA Service)
Courtesy: The
Leaflet
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