Political compulsions prompt BJP’s proactive stance on Alwar lynching
SPEED Govt has reacted with uncharacteristic speed and ordered five inquiries while BJP leaders were quick to condemn the lynching
Assembly elections due this year and a Supreme Court (SC) rap have spurred Rajasthan’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government into an uncharacteristically proactive mode following Rakbar Khan’s lynching in Alwar over cow smuggling suspicion, according to BJP insiders and analysts. The government reacted with uncharacteristic speed and ordered five inquiries while BJP leaders were quick to condemn the lynching.
The proactive stance is in contrast to a studied silence following earlier cases of cow vigilantism in the state. Analysts attribute the changed narrative to political compulsions rather than a change of heart. The BJP has faced criticism from opposition parties and the civil society over the fresh lynching on July 21. The party leadership fears the lynching could harm BJP’s prospects in the assembly and general elections due next year.
BJP leaders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was pressure from the party’s central leadership on them to take strong steps to contain the negative fallout.
A leader said there was a feeling within the BJP that the lynching could prove to be a liability in the elections. “The image of the state and central governments nationally and internationally was taking a beating and question were being raised over repeated mob lynchings and the law and
JAIPUR: The alleged lynching of a person transporting bovines in Alwar is condemnable.
VASUNDHARA RAJE, chief minister on Twitter
order situation. So the Centre directed the state government to act swiftly,” said the leader, who did not wish to be named.
Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje condemned Rakbar’s killing and promised action hours after it came to light. “The alleged lynching of a person transporting bovines in Alwar is condemnable. A strictest possible action shall be taken against the perpetrators,” she tweeted.
Home minister Gulab Chand Kataria visited the lynching scene in Lalawandi along with top officials besides meeting Rakbar’s family. Kataria had blamed the victims as much as the perpetrators when a mob lynched Pehlu Khan, 55, at Alwar in April 2017 for transporting cows. Raje had not reacted at all.
People’s Union for Civil Liberties national general secretary Kavita Srivastava said Raje had refused to meet Pehlu Khan’s family when they tried to.
There were no official condemnations when Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi, 60, was killed in 2015 on suspicion of selling beef in Nagaur district. Kataria had said the government does not have the manpower to “control every situation” when in November 2017 cow vigilantes killed Umar Mohammed, 32, while transport-
ing cows in Bharatpur.
Srivastava said the contempt petition filed in the SC over the latest lynching and elections have prompted the government to act. “For over a year, the government did not respond. This time because parliament is in session and because of the SC instructions on mob lynchings, the government had to show a response,” she said. “The government is now accountable to the SC.” A contempt petition has been filed in SC against the Rajasthan government for its failure in check lynchings. It would be heard on August 28. The SC had last week directed Parliament to legislate to prevent lynching while saying “the horrendous acts of mobocracy cannot be permitted” and allowed to become “the new normal”.
Political commentator Narayan