When Modi takes cow vigilantism by its horns

For the second consecutive day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at ‘fake’ gau rakshaks, asking governments to take action against them. That this time he chose to talk about the self-styled aggressive protectors of the cow in Telangana, is significant.

 

Because it is here that his own party MLA Raja Singh, had just last Sunday, put out a video on his Facebook page, in which he defended the assault on Dalit youth in Una in Gujarat, saying the ‘galeez’ Dalits deserved the treatment.

 

So Raja Singh called Dalits ‘filthy and Modi dismissed the likes of Singh as “fake”. 

 

Raja Singh, by posting the video on Facebook, must have thought he would make use of this forum to make more friends in the BJP. On Friendship day, Modi made it clear that he is not interested in being friends with Raja Singh. 

 

Raja Singh, the MLA from Goshamahal in Hyderabad, is also the chief of the Gau Rakshak outfit in the state and prides himself on the vigilante work his outfit does. His aggressive approach makes him quite a popular guy among the right-wingers in his constituency, especially as he pitches himself against the Dalits and Muslims, over the issue of cow slaughter.

 

The MLA's intention was that this high-pitched approach would endear himself to those in the party, especially in the run-up to the elections in Uttar Pradesh.

 

But the huge Dalit agitation in Gujarat last Sunday and the damage to the government's image it was doing internationally, seems to have forced Modi to do a rethink. And in contrast to his silence on Dadri, Modi has decided to hit hard and speak out.

 

So long as it were members of other organisations of the larger Sangh Parivaar, Modi could turn a blind eye. But when members of his own party cross the line, he knows it will hurt politically. Already the vice-president of the BJP's UP unit, Dayashankar Singh dented the party's image in the Dalit community when he called Mayawati a sex worker. Raja Singh's video message a week later, only added fuel to the fire. 

 

But Modi is known as a politician who likes to be in the defensive offensive mode. So he took the attack to the opposition, accusing it of using the Dalits as a vote bank and charged it of being rattled by the BJP's outreach.

 

The argument would not convince too many because just six months back, his party was at the receiving end of Dalit anger after a student Rohith Vemula, a member of Ambedkar Students Association, committed suicide at the University of Hyderabad.

 

Read more: Will India ever see beyond the holy cow?

 

Modi chose not to take Rohith's name. Perhaps he should have, the healing touch even if late, would have helped a bit. Maybe he did not want to offend Union minister of Labour Bandaru Dattatreya, whose name figures as an accused in the FIR relating to Rohith's suicide.

 

Modi spoke about how Dalits, even 70 years after Independence, are not treated well. Given the fact that the meeting at Lal Bahadur stadium was a party meeting, with several ABVP leaders also in attendance, the message should have gone home. That the PM does not appreciate the anti-Dalit image that the party is acquiring thanks to many of its leaders crossing the line. Because the genesis of the Rohith Vemula-related protest at Hyderabad University was a clash between ABVP and the Ambedkar Students Association. 

 

Towards the end of his speech, Modi said, “Attack me if you want, shoot me if you want, but do not attack or shoot the Dalits.” A melodramatic moment in his speech but then who was he addressing?

 

It may seem that he was talking about his political rivals but the real targets were the likes of Raja Singh and the ABVP in Hyderabad and the cow vigilante groups in the rest of India.

 

Over the weekend, in Delhi, Medak and Hyderabad, Modi has tried to articulate where he stands vis-a-vis the cow. One can only hope that the gau rakshaks won't be back in business on Monday.