CHENNAI // Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the lynchings and other violence perpetrated by Hindu right-wingers across India in the name of protecting the cow, which is considered sacred in Hinduism.
Mr Modi, who remained silent over the past few months as the episodes of violence mounted, chose to “express sadness on some of the things going on,” during a speech in his native state of Gujarat on Thursday.
The prime minister’s remarks came a day after multiple Indian cities witnessed organised protests against the lynchings of Muslims and lower-caste Hindus by right-wing groups. Crowds collected in New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai, among others, holding placards reading: “Not in my name.”
On Tuesday, a mob of at least a hundred people in the state of Jharkhand beat up a Muslim dairy farmer and burned his house down, allegedly after discovering a dead cow outside the house. Police sources told newspapers that the cow had died of natural causes, and that its throat had been slit to give the impression that Usman Ansari, the farmer, had killed it.
Mr Modi, who was speaking at the centenary celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram, which was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad, recalled Gandhi’s spirit. “We are a land of non-violence. We are the land of Mahatma Gandhi. Why do we forget that?”
“Killing people in the name of Gau Bhakti [cow worship] is not acceptable. This is not something Mahatma Gandhi would approve,” Mr Modi said. “No person in this nation has the right to take the law in his or her own hands.”
Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had, during its election campaign in 2014, promised to outlaw the slaughter of cows, for food or other purposes. In late May, the Indian environment ministry imposed a total ban on the sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter in cattle markets.
Between 2010 and 2017, 51 per cent of the violence centered around cow-related issues has targeted Muslims, according to an analysis by IndiaSpend, a web site that uses public data in its journalism. Twenty-four of the 28 people killed in such violence have been Muslims.
Moreover, 97 per cent of this violence has occurred after Mr Modi came to power in 2014.
These numbers do not include the attack on Mr Ansari in Jharkhand, which occurred after the analysis was carried out.
Including the Jharkhand attack, 21 cow-vigilante attacks have been recorded in India this year.
