MODI INVOKES GANDHI SPIRIT
Indian PM says leader would not condone violence over cows,
CHENNAI // Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has condemned right-wing Hindus’ use of violence in the name of protecting the cow, which is considered sacred in Hinduism.
Mr Modi, who has been silent over the past few months as the number of attacks rose, yester- day chose to “express sadness on some of the things going on” in a speech in his native state of Gujarat.
On Wednesday, there were organised protests in several cities against the murders of Muslims and lower-caste Hindus by rightwing groups.
Crowds gathered in New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and other cities, holding plac- ards that said “Not in my name”.
On Tuesday, a mob of about 100 people in the state of Jharkhand assaulted a Muslim dairy farmer and burnt his house down after a cow was allegedly found dead outside.
Police sources said the cow had died of natural causes and that its throat was slit to give the impression that the farmer, Usman Ansari, had killed it.
Speaking at the centenary celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram founded by Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad, Mr Modi evoked the spirit of the independence leader. “We are a land of non-violence. We are the land of Ma- hatma Gandhi. Why do we forget that?” he said.
“Killing people in the name of Gau Bhakti [cow worship] is not acceptable. This is not something Mahatma Gandhi would approve.
“No person in this nation has the right to take the law in his or her own hands.”
During the election campaign in 2014, Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party promised to outlaw the slaughter of cows for food or other purposes. In May, the environment ministry imposed a ban on livestock markets’ trading in cattle for slaughter.
Between 2010 and this year, Muslims were the target of more than half of the cow-related incidents of violence, according to an analysis by IndiaSpend, a journalism website that uses public data.
Twenty- four of the 28 people killed in those incidents were Muslims, not including Ansari in Jharkand.
Moreover, 97 per cent of this violence occurred after Mr Modi came to power in 2014.
Including the Jharkhand attack, 21 such vigilante attacks have been recorded this year.
One of the grisliest attacks occurred last week on a train in Haryana. An argument over seats escalated and led to a fatal attack on a 16-year-old boy named Junaid Khan.
Witnesses said the attackers accused Khan of being a “beef eater” and of carrying beef in his bag as they stabbed him to death.
Mr Modi and his party have been accused of fomenting these attacks because of their refusal to criticise vigilantism. The protests on Wednesday were targeted at Mr Modi’s government. “I refuse to be the citizen of Lynchistan,” read a placard in New Delhi.