A twist in cow sutra, amid nationwide row

The cow steadfastly remains at the centre of the national discourse in this country. How much longer

The year began with an assault in the name of cow protection at a railway station in Madhya Pradesh. The members of a self-styled cow protection group pounced on several passengers, including a Muslim couple, over allegations that they were carrying beef. Laboratory tests later revealed the pieces of meat found in their bag were that of a buffalo. All perfectly legal.

Eight months later, as tumultuous events are happening all around us, we are still discussing the cow. It is true every schoolchild in India has written an essay on the cow; and that millions love and venerate the animal. But how long are we going to let the cow set the political and cultural agenda, polarise the populace, and at what cost

It is not the cow’s fault; it’s those who attack, intimidate and use incendiary talk in the name of “cow protection”.

Arguably, the depressing story didn’t begin in 2016. Just the previous year, a mob killed a 52-year-old man, Mohammed Akhlaq, and injured his son as they believed there was beef at home. There has been a continuous drip-drip of reports of mob justice masquerading as cow protection.

Now comes a twist in the cow sutra.

On Tuesday, the home ministry issued an advisory to all states and Union territories asking them not to tolerate any attack on individuals in the name of cow protection. After a prelude on the “special” role of cattle in Indian culture and history, the advisory noted that in states where cow slaughter is prohibited by law, killing a cow is a violation of the law and an offence. “However, that doesn’t entitle any individual or group to take action on their own to prevent the alleged slaughter or punish wrongdoers...,” it said, warning that anyone found doing so would be punished severely.

The home ministry’s advisory comes just after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s by-now famous denunciation of vigilantes who strike in the name of cow protection. At two recent public events, Mr Modi lashed out at “fake” gau rakshaks, saying they wanted to create tensions in society.

Mr Modi says he salutes real “gau rakshaks” and “gau sevaks”, and urged them to come forward to expose fake “gau rakshaks”.

Mr Modi’s critics have been quick to point out that the government has remained mute for a long time, even as dalit protests raged after alleged cow protection vigilantes flogged four dalits skinning a dead cow in Gujarat last month. They say the Prime Minister broke his silence only when it became amply clear that more such protests could potentially impact the BJP’s fortunes in poll-bound states like Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, that have significant dalit populations. They rub it in that no one from the side of the government is loudly condemning cow vigilantes who have also attacked Muslims.

So does the Modi government mean what it says, and will its cow commandments work

The ground realities point to challenges ahead. Take the case of Punjab, which has been a hotspot of India’s cow protection movement since the 1870s. Soon after Mr Modi’s public lashing against “fake cow protectors”, the Punjab police registered yet another first information report against Satish Kumar, who heads a local Gau Raksha Dal. But media reports suggest Kumar remains unrepentant, and at the time of writing he had not been arrested. In March 2016, I drew attention to his website (http://protectyourcow.blogspot.in/2010/08/about-us.html), which explicitly advocates violence against anyone who slaughters a cow. It says it has no “trust on government support because the Government of India and other state governments are involved in cow slaughtering” and that its objective — “protection of all cows” — can only be “achieved by killing all killers of cows. Now, worryingly, that pitch is still there.

It’s not just Punjab’s cow protector vigilantes. Many among Jharkhand’s cow vigilantes have also strongly opposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks against them. And while the RSS has supported Mr Modi, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and sundry other Sangh Parivar outfits have warned that the PM’s remarks might cost his party dear in future elections.

How will the authorities distinguish “real” cow protectors from the fake vigilantes Few know where to draw the line between the two, specially as the line blurs in many cases. Many also don’t see any contradiction in running gaushalas and beating up people.

None of the vigilantes admit to making the first violent move. In Jharkhand, for example, where cow slaughter is banned, a cow vigilante told a reporter that his group uses violence only for self-protection. In almost every instance, it was the cattle trader who had turned violent first, he claimed. In Haryana, a DIG-rank officer has now been appointed to identify cow vigilantes. He has a tough task. The state government has a list of 325 Gau Rakshak Dal members. Now the police has to find out if these people are protecting cows or breaking the law, or both.

The Gau Rakshak Dal’s Satish Kumar’s Facebook page carries an image of a man brandishing a pistol. Next to it is the slogan “Join the Fight”. Words are flamethrowers. If the state governments are truly interested in cracking down on cow vigilantes, they must track instances of intimidation and physical assaults by the cow brigade as well as words that can incite people to acts of violence. True love for the cow would mean picking up a broom instead of a gun, and sweeping cities clean of the plastic packets that lie all around, are eaten by cows and lead to their painful death.

The writer focuses on development issues in India and emerging economies. She can be reached at patralekha.chatterjee@gmail.com