Congress mum on slaughter ban
The Congress, on Tuesday, adopted complete silence on the ban on cow slaughter. Party president Sonia Gandhi, while addressing the CWC meeting, made passing reference saying, “There is an assault on livelihoods and food habits of those who follow different tenets and beliefs.”
Speculations were rife that the Congress could come out with an official line on the Centre move to ban cow slaughter. The top party leadership had been playing the soft Hindutva cards and have been sending out signals that it was “not against” the Centre’s move.
It may be recalled that after three youth Congress workers slaughtered a calf in public, Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi had strongly condemned the act and suspended them.
Many leaders in the Congress feel that the party should take an official line on the issue.
There are leaders who want the Congress to lead a campaign against cow slaughter.
However, it’s clear that the Congress intends to adopt a middle path on the issue and not take any official position.
The Congress is desperately trying to shed BJP’s charges that the party was “anti-Hindu and proMuslim”. However, at the same time, Mr Gandhi was holding parlyes with the minority leaders to ally their fears that Congress was turning “anti-Muslim”.
“We shall not take any official stand on this issue. It does not suit the party at this juncture,” a senior party leader said.