Fringe must not be allowed to get away with violence

The controversy over cow slaughter in India is taking a violent turn. Enforcement is left to the mob, goons from the fringe who are taking their roles seriously and to deadly effect. This a dangerous, fractious trend that could lead to communal strife in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious society. Cow vigilantes are hunting smugglers of the sacred animal and bludgeoning them to death. It’s extremist, rightist and violent. And the virulent strain is spreading after the beating and lynching of Muslim men who allegedly transported the animals illegally in Rajasthan state. One man died in the attack by vigilantes, and routine arrests were made after the human slaughter. The cows were protected. Holy justice prevailed. Meanwhile, the men transporting the animal from Haryana had receipts to prove it was done legally. Last year, another man was lynched in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly storing beef at home. The new Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has vowed to clamp on illegal slaughterhouses.

The Indian Constitution grants every citizen equal rights. Religious tolerance is a tradition in the country. What gives these charlatans of justice the right to take the law into their own hands? States under Narendra-Modi’s party, the BJP, were the first to frame laws to protect cows. The majority wins, but the rest should have a right to their preferred meat, too. Last week, a BJP candidate in Kerala, which has a sizeable Muslim and Christian population, said there would be no beef ban if his party came to power. In Goa, another state with a large Christian population where the BJP is in charge, a ban is taboo. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikkar said what people eat is a matter of their choice and the state has no role to play in what’s on the plate. In the Northeastern Christian-majority states of Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya, beef remains on the menu because the people won’t be cowed down by politics. India’s secularism is well known but it’s time to beef it up to save human lives.