Alleged cow killings in India’s villages have further deepened the rift between Hindus and Muslims in the country. In several villages across India, a group of Hindu radicals, who have been egged on by rumors, is in search of those who have apparently preyed on their holy cows. The concerned group claims that thousands of cows have been herded after midnight from roadsides and ponds and then prodded into stolen cars with the help of heated iron rods, so they can be butchered. Cows are deeply revered by many staunch Hindus in India and the group alleges the perpetrators are none other than Muslim traders.
Religious activists in India have tried to prevent cow slaughtering for more than a few centuries, often citing a law that bans cow killings in most states. Reportedly, Muslim emperors from Mughal dynasties implemented laws during the 16th century to protect cows and promote religious harmony in India. During the colonial era, Indian freedom fighters pursued cow protection, in part to oppose their imperial beef-eating rulers. However, as elections approached in two states, namely Haryana and Maharashtra, earlier this month, the fight to protect cows and rumours about them being slaughtered heightened all of a sudden.
No reliable estimates of cow slaughtering have been found to determine if the numbers have really increased. Yet, that has not stopped right-wing political radicals, who have grown popular among the masses by demanding more stringent laws against cow slaughtering, from fueling such ideas. Some analysts claim local activists are working in tandem with national political groups to further exploit the religious divide between Hindus and Muslims for electoral gain.
One such radical in Haryana, Mahinder Pal Singh, who has a cow shelter of his own, said he mobilized a team of young men to look out for Muslims who attempt to smuggle cows. He claims the work is life threatening and one of his team members was even killed six months ago while on a midnight vigil.
“We’ll catch hold of them, even if our workers are killed,” said Singh.
In a speech delivered earlier this month, Mohan Bhagwat, leader of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist group, instigated grass-roots people to oppose a temporary slaughterhouse set up for Muslims so they could celebrate Eid al-Adha. The mass he addressed went on to besiege a train and pelt stones at the local police.
However, Haryana, which happens to have a majority Muslim population, is where the recent rumours of cow slaughtering have been making rounds. In one of the villages in the state of Jhajjar, local politicians demanded a ban on traders from Mewat after five cows were found beheaded, skinned and gutted last month. It must be pointed out that Mewat is one of the few Muslim-dominated districts in Haryana.
In addition, a Delhi judge recently sentenced seven traders from Mewat for life for smuggling cows and firing on the police, saying those guilty belong to a ferocious and notorious gang of cattle lifters, known to attack police without any fear of the law.
In India too, like in most other parts of the world, religious issues are often used by political parties to draw voters to the polls. Right before elections were held in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year, leaders of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) spoke of the commonly cited but never proven concept of ‘love jihad,’ wherein Muslim men allegedly seduce Hindu women so they can be converted. Political analysts claimed this was done to polarize uneducated voters.
“This [cow slaughter] is an emotional issue; this is not an election issue,” said Sanjay Singh, a political aspirant, while sitting before a campaign poster featuring an enlarged image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face. “It is a religious issue — it is for the entire Hindu society.”
Ironically, the Press Trust of India has archived how BJP leaders continuously announced that if elected, they would ensure the punishment for cow slaughter is equal with that for murder.
Political commentator Neerja Chowdhury says Modi, who happens to be a longtime associate of RSS, may have maintained a safe distance from controversial religious issues since emerging Prime Minister but he has not done anything to shut those who continue to propagate such divide at the local level.
Most Muslims in Mewat believe the cases that land them in court are often botched up with the help of some political influence or the other as Hindus dominate the police force in Haryana.
A 47-year-old farmer, Hafiz Mohammad Hanif, said the rumours about cow slaughter were being circulated by the BJP itself only so they could win the upcoming elections.
“Each time there is a cow slaughter, it is a Hindu who does it,” he said. “They kill cows and dump the body parts on our land to vilify us.”
Sher Mohammad, another farmer, said his son had been heckled by a group of Hindu fanatics while he was trying to transport a cow the family owned from one place to another. Despite Mohammad’s son trying to persuade them about the transport being a legitimate one, the hecklers forced the driver off his seat and drove them to an isolated area, where both were jailed.
“In this village everyone keeps their own cows and buffalos, but nobody stops the Hindus,” Mohammad said.
Mahinder Pal Singh, owner of the cow shelter mentioned earlier, said the Hindu population of the area had dropped unexplainably over the last couple of years and he is convinced about it being part of a Muslim ploy.
While explaining how cow smuggling and forced conversions have been practiced to weaken Hindus in India, Singh said, “They want to establish a buffer state here where terrorists come for refuge.”
Singh believes the cow is holy, as its milk can even cure AIDS and cancer. He shared an anecdote with us, according to which former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gifted 15 cows to the Soviet Union so those who had suffered in the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl could be saved.
“We consider cows more worthy than our mothers,” he said.
Photo Credits: Flickr
