Bengaluru: The BJP, which has been quick to take damage control measures after dalits in Gujarat were brutally beaten by members of a cow protection committee in Una, assures that such an incident could never happen in Karnataka despite the many groups actively involved in cow protection here.
In the past minor tussles have been reported from the coastal districts and Chikmagaluru, where Gau Rakshak Samiti members have manhanded youth from minority communities transporting cows to slaughterhouses. But there have so far been no attacks on dalits in the state.
While saffron outfits have strongly backed Gau Rakshak Samitis preventing transportation of cows to slaughterhouses in Karnataka, will the BJP now check the activities of these outfits in the state considering the potential for unrest? Ask senior party leader and former minister C.T. Ravi, and he says although Gau Rakshak Samitis are active in Karnataka, they are not out to create disharmony in society.
“The question of controlling the activities of Gau Rakshak Samitis in Karnataka does not arise as they work closely with the public and rely on its support. Our aim is to spread communal harmony and not unrest. The committees do not confront people illegally transporting cows, but only spread awareness among the public about the selling of cows that don’t yield milk,” he said.
Insisting that the committees had been formed only to protect cows, so useful in farming, he noted that even before the inception of the RSS and Bajrang Dal, these animals were worshipped and protected in the country. “The cow reflects the agricultural wealth of India,” he summed up.
