...BUT BACKS COW VIGILANTES

NEW DELHI: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has defended the cow vigilantes in a closed-door meeting in Agra on Sunday to send out a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi dubbing 70% of them as criminals.

"The work of cow protection must continue. It is a very good job. We have to protect cows at any cost," he said in a question-answer session with the newly-wed Hindu couples.

"The Gau Rakshak (cow protector) is acting within the law. Those who don’t want such work to continue have been criticising them. The Gau Rakshak must continue the work in any situation," he added.

He was responding to a question: "Why did the Prime Minister criticise the Gau Rakshak (cow protectors) and why have they been targeted by some state governments?" Though his comments came in a closed-door meeting, the RSS is circulating it to make its stand clear and correct a wrong impression that went out from its general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi endorsing Modi and calling for exposing a handful of opportunists masquerading as the cow protectors.

Bhagwat’s comments are seen as reassuring the cow protectors not to reduce vigil against cow slaughter and beef eating. He was apparently addressing Modi’s call for a clampdown on the cow vigilantes and the crackdown on them by many state governments.

The Prime Minister had sought action against criminals who give bad name to the cow vigilantes, but he has not addressed the moot question as to how the atmosphere became so vitiated and conducive for lumpen elements to exploit. The BJP leaders here see in Bhagwat a damage-control exercise instead of creating problems for the BJP before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. They were happy that Bhagwat did not create any new controversy that damages the party in the elections.