Alwar Lynching: Cow vigilantism is hurting BJP and calling Rahul Gandhi ‘Merchant of Hate’ won’t change that

Union Minister Piyush Goyal known for his affable and erudite nature had a terse reply for Rahul Gandhi’s ‘New India’ jibe regarding the horrific Alwar lynching. India’s stand-in Finance Minister called Congress President a ‘merchant of hate’.

Now, even if we ignore the umpteen numbers of times PM Modi as Gujarat CM used to jump into any hot potato issues where the UPA was under fire, Goyal’s reaction as a standalone viewpoint still leaves a lot to be desired. It shows that as of now, BJP is fighting a narrative battle, and it is failing.

Goyal says that the state has assured strict action, and hence the Opposition shouldn’t raise the issue. At a time, when part of the state machinery is alleged to be complicit in killing of Akbar Khan, is a mere assurance enough? 

This line of argument may work with the extreme right, but one doesn’t have to be a fan of Rahul Gandhi to know that he has a valid point here. The police’s act of omission and commission is too brazen for it to be not being rectified in an exemplary speed, so that it doesn’t repeat again.

The latest incident among a long-list of cow-related violence that has been reported in the country in last 8 years. According to IndiaSpend data, there have been 80 incidents of cow-related violence in India in last 8 years and majority in the last four years.  Of which, Muslims have been victims at least 56% of the times. What should be worrying authorities is that the trend is only increasing in recent times.

2017 was the worst year in terms of cow vigilantism in recent year with 11 deaths and 152 victims in 37 such cases. It eclipsed the record set in 2016. In 2018, alone so far 9 such cases have been recorded by IndiaSpend, with 5 deaths. A cursory view of the map plotting the state-wise occurrence of such cases, show that the cow belt. i.e the Hindi heartland has been the theatre for many such hate crimes.

At least 57% of the time, the victims were Muslims and BJP were in power in the state, a total of 48 out of the 87 cases. The number shoots up to 56, if one adds J&K and Punjab where the BJP was the junior ally. Also, in over 30% of the cases, the cops have lodged complaints against the victims or their families for violating cow-related laws.

All these facts point towards a troubling trend - that somehow BJP-ruled states have failed to bring this worrisome menace under control. Not only that, the clean chit given to accused in several of the cases, including those accused of killing Pehlu Khan recently, has given out a message that vigilantes can carry out their brazen acts with impunity. 

When a Union Minister garlands lynching accused, when another minister equates it to PM Modi’s rising popularity to somehow insinuate that these are ‘fake news’, it just builds the narrative that the ruling party isn’t exactly sincere in cracking down against these cow vigilantes.

 Several state governments in the past have tightened their cow protection laws. The Centre too initially brought a strong law for Prevention of Animals from Cruelty but was later forced to water it down amidst resentment from states. The laws in different states should ideally have been a shot in the arm to the police authorities to crackdown on beef mafia but has actually emboldened cow protectionist groups. The alacrity with which they have taken the law into their own hand shows they aren’t exactly worried about consequences.

And that’s where the BJP has failed in its governance. Its words against lynching have tended to be lip-service and promptly junked. The central government is now forming a high-powered committee to look into ways of dealing with lynching. But one fears that the genie is long out of the bottle, and it would take prompt intervention from highest authorities for any actual course correction.

Every instance of lynching followed by one impertinent comment by BJP leaders is chiselling away the party’s goodwill among the centrist, the aspirational voters who were attracted to the saffron outfit. BJP was touted as the party with a difference, a modern right-wing conservative alternative to the lackadaisical Gandhi family rule. The Acche Din war cry united people across, from eight to eighty - across the country.

The brutal incidents of lynching and subsequent action or the lack of it in several cases is a complete antithesis to what BJP leaders had promised. The party needs to do more than merely issue statements - to give out the message that it is truly interested in ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’.

Painting Rahul Gandhi as a modern-day Shylock may not be productive as the Indian voters might strain in showing the quality of mercy.