Killers have little faith in religion
It's ignoble and reprobate that a bunch of miscreants with no basic understanding of either religion or law have committed a grave crime on a fellow human being in Dadri, UP, by lynching him. In the civil society we built over decades after Independence, such hatred is reprehensible and condemnable though they are isolated and far in between.
The BJP categorically abhors such violence and hate-crime, no matterwhere it happens and for whatever reason. Our government, through the Union ministry of home affairs, has already sought a detailed reportfrom the Uttar Pradesh government on this deplorable action.
It's actually immaterial as to which community or individual has perpetrated a crime. Law does not identify criminals by religion. It only recognises them by the type and degree of the offence. However, one has to address the fundamental reasons behind this kind of inexplicable but brazen outrage.
The miscreants who commit such inhuman acts, generally, are emotionally weak individuals who have a shallow or zero understanding of both religion and law. They should know no religion propagates violence on a fellow human being. If they know law, they would be mindful that there are dedicated enforcement agencies and authorities who will pursue and prosecute law-violators. They do not need to become a law unto themselves by delivering death sentences in the streets. In this case, the victim was lynched for alleged illegal cow slaughter.
All the religions are in dire straits, with smaller numbers of extremists who, with their mindless actions, bring disrepute to the fraternity. In the process, moderates and real practitioners of religion are misunderstood. In the world we live today, a stage has unfortunately come wherein the word 'religion' itself has acquired a negative connotation. Such a grim situation is the making of a few. Nothing in the world justifies violence. Taking someone else's life is no one's right. What an individual does is his action; not of the people around him or the religion he belongs to. Some individuals are choosing to resort to violence by overriding law. We are neither in a jungle raj nor in a banana republic. Acts like what happened in Dadri need be probed and miscreants brought to justice, no matter who they are.
It's understandable that secular jingoists jump into the fray after an incident like this. They get an opportunity to indulge in Hindu-bashing. They would do well to reflect on whether they are helping someone or hurting the social fabric. Most likely, the miscreants who lynched the man in Dadri are either illiterate, jobless, homeless or from disturbed family backgrounds. They must be from a genre that doesn't understand the nuances of and the actual reasons for the ban on beef, the exemptions given in the law for buffalo meat, the religious sentiment limitations in a working democracy, the provisions of the law etc. They just get driven by rage or hatred.
However, those who are educated and well-versed should at least not jump the gun to attack a party or a religion. Law and order is a state subject and UP is duty-bound to both protect civilians and prosecute those who indulge in these kinds of criminal acts.
Now, is this not fundamentally the failure of the law and order machinery of UP? The way a few mainstream TV debaters, anchors, columnists, civil society representatives indulge in Hindu-bashing, they are clearly being juvenile. In conclusion, the Dadri case is one of the many criminal offences being committed by unscrupulous elements in our society on a daily basis. Drawing unwarranted conclusions is purely for petty political reasons or for proving someone's secular credentials or for majority bashing.
Krishna Saagar Rao, The writer is a BJP spokesperson and organisational strategist
Our confidence is shattered
The Union Government and some state governments have come up with the idea of banning beef and terming the consumption and sale of it as a grave crime. They are going to the extent of equating use of beef as a crime against the nation. I speak on behalf of Muslims and would like to say that Holy Quran teaches us to follow the laws of the nation of which we are citizens.
Hence, Muslims have absolutely no objection if proper laws are brought into force, and a justified and alternative source of nourishment is provided to them. What saddens me is the double standard wherein at one place beef is banned strictly and the ban implemented, and the other side the corporate slaughter houses are being encouraged to export beef even by granting them tax exemptions. India is today one of the major exporters of beef. How is this done when the country has taken a decision to preserve its cattle? If the government is serious about this, will it allow slaughter and export of the same? The incident at Dadri's Bishara village, Uttar Pradesh, where a citizen of this country Mohammed Akhlaq has been stoned to death by a mob and his son critically injured, shatters the confidence of the minorities in the administration and laws here.
The family has been on record saying before both the media and the authorities that they have not killed any cattle, and nor had they had beef in their residence. Yet, a planned attempt was made by communal elements to create an atmosphere of fear and unrest before the forthcoming Bihar assembly elections.
An important point that comes to every mind is, why not also ban alcohol in the country, as is done in the 'model state' of Gujarat and from where our Prime Minister hails? Why not, especially in the BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa?
It is a known fact that alcohol is a major killer that also led to the destruction of many families. The second question is, why are we continuing to allow sale and use of tobacco, gutka and other such items which are identified as being the deadliest killers and health hazards? The Union Government, if it is so serious about taking up issues for the betterment of the country and its citizens, should not hesitate to ban such substances throughout the country. The Muslims, on their part, will happily agree to the ban on beef if it is done in a rational and legal way. I strongly condemn killing of innocents by mobs. This has become a strategy for communal elements to escape law and justice. I appeal to all like-minded people in this country to stand up and condemn such incidents, and loudly and firmly express their opinion. This sad fate befell on 50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq and his son Danish in a village which is just a few kilometres from capital New Delhi.
The mob attacked them based merely on rumours spread by some militant, right-wing, Hindu anarchists. This is shocking, and it has shattered the confidence of Muslims in the NDA government and the UP government run by SP leader Akhilesh Yadav. This gruesome act, the manner in which it has happened, and the less than serious handling of the case by the central and state governments, add insult to our injury. The 200 million Muslims of India have always stood by the Constitution of this country and have respected it in all ways.
Abid Rasool Khan, The writer is Chairman, Minority Commission for TS and AP
