Shiban Khaibri
Sporadic acts of lynching in a country having been practicing, spreading and firmly believing in non violence and tolerance, should witness acts of mob attacks and killings is shameful and reprehensible. It is all the more a stigma on a civilized society and deserves full obloquy irrespective of any justification, reason or cause. It is equally shamefacedness and derisible if cheap politics was done over these heinous acts of crime, and gone beyond treating such contemptuous acts merely as criminals’ acts. Opportunist politics, in the matter, done on selective basis deserve all the severe opprobrium. Should political parties trade charges against one another when they know that the pot cannot justify calling the kettle black. All political Parties, more or less, are cast in the same mould, with some exceptions, of course.
One is at a loss to know that should an animal be treated more important than the life of a human being. Even in the case of a severe crime, other things remaining the same, no one was authorized to be the prosecutor, the judge and the executioner simultaneously and decide the fate of the “criminal” on the road itself in an entirely extrajudicial manner. That is simple barbarianism and the guilty of such mob lynching should be dealt with strictly, given exemplary punishment as per the law of the land and shown no leniency.
It may look slightly uncomfortable but let facts be presented as facts only. This writer having served in a relatively backward area of Eastern Uttar Pradesh for consecutive three years, has been witness to what treatment was meted out to cows and in particular to oxen, in their reaching the age of being of no utility to their owners and have seen herds of cows and oxen in old and poor health, being driven ostensibly to their final destinations other than presumed ones of Gauvshalas. That is a reality though a heart rending one, hurt to religious feelings notwithstanding. The population explosion has created more and tedious problems, apart from millions of feeding mouths added each year, green fields, grass and fodder growing lands have considerably shrunk and converted into concrete jungles. It is ludicrous and making one aghast to aspire for pure fresh cow milk but the smell of a cowshed is to us not tolerable. In walled cities, we used to see mohellas punctuated with houses keeping cows , now that is a rare spectacle to enjoy. That, however, does not justify cruelty to the most gentle, multi faceted useful cow fondly called as Gaai Mata or the mother cow. A full fledged comprehensive and elaborative law is needed, enforceable throughout the country which perhaps could address the problem but to attack, wound and kill in the name of a cow is unjustified, uncalled for and sinful.
Meharshi Dayanand Saraswati, who not only revived and spread the scientific and indispensable message of Holy Vedas , the divine treatise and the oldest ones known in the world, was a great social reformer who favoured widow marriage, universal education for women, abolishing of the scourge of caste system, curing contagious diseases like leprosy and Tuberculosis with care and not hound out the carriers out of homes, concept of Preeti Bhoj or partaking food together irrespective of any caste, poor or rich barriers with intent to deepen the bonds of love and cohesion. The great Mahershi was a strong antagonist of superstitions and falsehoods. It is beyond comprehension as to what is the nonsense nursed by some people that there were witches, ghosts, apparitions, Jadoo Touna etc. Attacking and lynching not only on the suspicion of slaughtering a cow, carrying beef or trading in cows for illegal purposes but even indulging in witch hunting and in such cases, some mentally retarded poor woman becomes the target of mob lynching .
Bovine related mob lynching deaths, of late, have slightly increased in number and the anti Modi and anti BJP opposition parties, instead of finding ways and means to tackle this hysteria and cooperate with the Government in the matter, take turns in maligning what they call Hindutva forces. They conveniently heap the causes and the problems entirely on Modi and on Hindutva or what they call Right Wing forces. They are silent about an incident of 2002 in Haryana when as many as five poor people were killed by a rabid mob over a rumour of cow slaughter. Haryana was then ruled by the “secular” Congress. The opposition parties see in mob lynching, a culture of “impunity constructed” under the current dispensation. What is more shocking is that a particular type of lobby with their pockets of deep influence ,if not deep roots, in many socio , cultural, political, religious and media circles based on tilted, one sided , selective and prejudiced view point, come lavishly with Hindu bashing as if the entire community was behind this barbarism.
To call a spade a spade, this lobby is seen least interested in preventing such heinous acts of violence or are very much sympathetic towards the victims in as much as they are interested in blowing this condemnable lynching hysteria out of proportion to bake their political loaves. Mamta Banerjee pitches “Talibani Hinduism” and “Hinduism with weapons” without giving a thought as to what she means by coining the term “Hindu Taliban”. Have Hindus with nearly 81% population in this country been destined to be condemned by politicians pursuing third rate, divisive, appeasing vote Bank politics by calling them Talibans? That Hindus all over and across the country are not on roads for this ignominy rained on them, shows how much tolerant, peaceful, kind and forgivers Hindus are.
Mamta Ji must read pages of history. If she has no time left from her busy schedule of doing appeasement politics and “hate Hindu” politics, at least she must be grateful and highly praiseful of Hindus who after getting independence, were at the point of bayonet compelled to slice the country into three parts, Pakistan, East Pakistan (Now Bangladesh) and more than half of Kashmir, entire Baltistan and Gilgit purely on hate, divisive and communal grounds by Muslim League and acquiesced by Gandhi and Nehru. Even after that horrendous partition, Hindus had all the logic, rationale and cause for making the left over India as a theocratic one but in deference to the great Indian civilization, the ancient one on the tenets of tolerant, all encompassing and broadest minded Hindu religion, they opted for a secular country where all religions, beliefs and philosophies coexisted, flourished and lived in harmony. That does not mean that in the name of minority(ism), they should be insulted and given names like we come across daily.
Mamta Ji aspiring to become the PM and thus coming head on with Rahul Ji waiting in wings for 2019 elections, must coin a suitable appealing acronym parallel to Hindu Taliban for Hindus attacked and killed in West Bengal under her rule. She must issue a white paper on riots in Malda , Hazinagar, Dulagarh, West Midnapur, Raniganj, Asansol and who recently killed Tarlochan Mahato by hanging him with a tree. She must also explain to the nation her too much of love and compassion for Rohingya Muslim illegal immigrants and how most of them allegedly possessed vital documents even like Aadhar cards.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has coined “Hindu Pakistan” and in the garb of attacking the BJP has cast aspersions on Hindus which he has no business about or any right to. If he attacks the BJP just to tag Hindus with that party which is untrue ab-initio, even if his contentions were true, still no heavens would fall just like no tremors shook the country as his leader was given nearly 45 minutes instead of 15 to speak in the Parliament on July 20. Not to speak of tremors, even the steps he walked up to the Prime Minister’s seat to plant a hug on him were tender , soft and unimpressive .The wink spoiled the broth as it was not in the script but spontaneously added by him on his own.
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