With eye on elections, politics plays out over Alwar lynching
KEEPING ISSUE ALIVE A bandh has been called by Hindu outfits in Ramgarh and Govindgarh towns of Alwar district on August 18
outfits have called for a bandh in Ramgarh and Govindgarh towns of Alwar district on August 18 to ensure that the issue of Rakbar Khan’s lynching is alive until the Rajasthan assembly elections due later this year.
The bandh is a follow-up to BJP legislator from Ramgarh Gyan Dev Ahuja’s efforts to ratchet up passion around cow smuggling and slaughter in the area that borders Haryana’s Nuh district. Passions are stoked even as former Ramgarh MLA and Congress leader Zubair Khan demands a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case, raising questions over incidents of mob lynching in this area only.
Rakbar Khan, 31, alias Akbar of Kol village in Haryana’s Nuh district was attacked by alleged cow vigilantes in Ramgarh’s Lalavandi village on July 21 night. He was declared dead on arrival at the Ramgarh community health centre (CHC) early next morning. Police arrested three people – Dharmendra Yadav, Paramjeet Singh and Naresh Singh – over next two days. Another person named in the FIR is absconding.
Ahuja and the Hindu outfits are demanding their release after home minister Gulab Chand Kataria declared on July 24 that Rakbar died in police custody. The Congress alleges that Ahuja patronises the cow vigilantes, who resort to horrendous acts of lynching alleged cow smugglers; the opposition party says the BJP MLA wants cow politics to play out in his favour during the state elections.
Alwar and Bharatpur districts, bordering Haryana, together account for a third of all cattle smuggling cases recorded in Rajasthan. In Alwar, until July this year, 58 cases were registered under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995. Almost 50% of the cases were in six police stations in Ramgarh, Naugawan, Tijara, Tapukda, Bhiwadi and Behror.
Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer from Haryana, was lynched in April this year under Behror police station area, and Rakbar’s lynching occurred in Ramgarh police station area.
Since 2015, 429 cases of cow smuggling have been registered in Alwar, in which 662 people were arrested on the charges of transporting cattle for slaughter.
Rakbar’s family is opposing the August 18 bandh call. They and other people from their native village met Alwar’s superintendent of police on Monday to demand the arrest of the fourth accused in the case, calling him the main conspirator.
Meanwhile, as politics over the case plays out in the Ramgarh assembly constituency – Govindgarh included – Congress leader Zubair Khan, who was MLA from this constituency in 1990, 1993 and 2003, has accused BJP leaders of playing the communal card.
“It is clear that a few leaders of the BJP are trying to divide the people of Ramgarh on communal line just to gain political profit. I demand a CBI probe into the case to expose people who are running Cow smuggling cases in Alwar
2015 Ramgarh Naugawan People arrested
JAIPUR/ALWAR:Hindu
Tijara
the show from behind a mask and patronising the alleged gaurakshaks,” he said.
Khan said more cases of cow smuggling are registered at other police stations but lynching is reported only from Ramgarh, referring to an earlier case where Umar Mohammad of Ghatmika village in Bharatpur was found dead near railway tracks in Ramgarh.
Political experts have their own takes on the cow politics in the area.
Former banker and Meo activist Shifat Khan says recent events have increased the political equity of Ahuja who faced the danger of not getting the BJP ticket this time for his political performance in the constituency. Tapukda Bhiwadi Behror
“If some more incidents related to cows take place in Ramgarh, the election will become a replay of 2014 Lok Sabha elections,” he added.
District Congress Committee general secretary Sweta Saini is confident that people will reject the divisive politics of the BJP and people’s anger towards them will show in their votes.
Former college principal and political activist Jivan Singh Manvi says BJP’s efforts for polarisation won’t have much impact on the majority population of the area. “People are aware that no development works have been done in the area in five years. Non-performance and anti-incumbency will prevail over polarisation,” he added.