The message against cow vigilantism has always been clear. There can be no place for violence in a civilised society in the name of protecting the cow. Human lives cannot be toyed with in the guise of saving the cow because it is historically revered. The Prime Minister has also said so and more than once. The Supreme Court reiterated the point that it was not a question of whether law and order was a state subject and whether the states are taking actions as per law against the vigilantes. It told the Centre bluntly, “You don’t protect any kind of vigilantism” at a hearing on Friday. If the stern message sinks in, maybe the Centre would do more to prompt states into action. Severe outbreaks of cow vigilantism have led to mob lynchings, the depravity of which is hard to explain.
The arguments have been endless with the government insisting that cow slaughter has been banned since the times of Nehru with the sanction of the Ambedkar-driven Constituent Assembly. While it is fair to contend that violence can never be a partisan issue, it is a reasonable expectation that more is seen to be done to rein it in. The thoughtless levels to which the debate descended in Parliament with a Union minister bringing up the anti-Sikh riots to compare with the lynchings that are taking place today thanks to the encouragement gau rakshaks seem to derive from the prevailing environment. At least 20 incidents of vigilante attacks have already been reported in 2017 and the victims have been dalits or Muslims. Needless to say, these attacks must stop if values of a peaceful society are to be re-established and everyone must act — the Centre and the states.
