Holy Cow, Holy War

The lynching of five Dalits — Virender, Dayanand, Kailash, Raju Gupta and Tota Ram — in Jhajjar inHaryana, reportedly by a frenzied mob, for  skinning a dead cow, is yet another pointer to thecriminality that marks mob behaviour, thanks to the communal manipulation of mass religiosity by those who wish to thrive by it. The brutal massacre of five citizens is bad enough. What is absolutely shocking is thefact that they were hijacked from police custody and lynched. It raises a host of questions that cry out foranswers.

The disturbing trend, however, is that the truth about events coloured by communalism can never be known.

There are at least three aspects to this gruesome event that must engage our attention. The first is thesickness of religion it portends. The sanctity that the cow enjoys in Hindu sentiments is well-established.Even Babar in his memoirs laid special emphasis on respecting it.

The cow has both ritualistic and symbolic implications for Hindus. Ritualistically, it is entwined with theintuition of the divine, especially at the meeting point between the physical and the metaphysical.Symbolically, the cow points to the sanctity of the non-human part of creation, without which human beingstend to vandalise the rest of creation, as in materialistic cultures. A commitment to develop a caringattitude towards creation as a whole is hence integral in the reverence for the cow.

That caring attitude must be evident in caring for cows in India. The disturbing truth is that a5,000-strong mob, allegedly led by VHP leaders, could collect at the drop of a hat to lynch those who skinneda dead cow. But it is doubtful if there would be even five among them willing to take care of  livingcows that desperately need care and protection. It is a sign of religious sickness that the eagerness to killand destroy in the name of religion far outweighs the willingness to live up to its positive ideals.

We do not know how the cow in the present episode died; whether someone other than the five victims killedit or whether it died of starvation, a street accident, old age or sickness. It is almost certain that no oneamong the murderous mob asked these questions. Nor would it have occurred to them that being a friend of cowsinvolves much more  than being enemies of the enemies of cows.

What this event points to is a problem endemic in religion: the negative definition of religioussentiments. Even those who condemn others for their atheism or irreligious attitude could actually be living alife completely devoid of the ethical and spiritual core of their religious tradition.

The plight of the cows that are seen roaming our streets, thousands of them feasting mostly on plastic bagsand dying with extreme pain after consuming these synthetic and deadly delicacies, should intensely distrub adevout Hindu than the sight of someone skinning a dead cow. But who cares?

The second major issue this event raises is the  increasing legitimisation of organised crimecamouflaged in communal sentiments. It is now a matter of settled public perception that the perpetrators ofeven the most heinous crimes will enjoy immunity if they parade themselves in communal costumes. This has beenso for a long time. Sadly, we do not have a respectable track record of dealing with communal atrocitiesaccording to the law of the land.

The additional note to this symphony of institutionalised mayhem is the trend among politicians andlaw-enforcing agencies to use the  excuse of mob frenzy to justify lawlessness and the clear derelictionof duty on the part of the State in such situations. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s excuse in Parliament for thedestruction of Babri masjid is a case in point. He explained it away as an eruption of irresistible publicsentiments, as though mob frenzy is a talisman that shifts crime to the zone of legitimacy.

What is beyond any dispute is that no civilised society can afford to entertain such notions and excuses.Public statements like these, from the highest functionaries of the  Indian State, complement thecommunal bias that is created by vested interests and subvert the rule of law. Going by the ghastly Haryanaevent, even the police now  seem to have no qualms in excusing their culpable inaction on the alibi ofirresistible mob frenzy. That was also heard, with distressing regularity, after the post-GodhraState-sponsored genocide in Gujarat.

The seed for this may well be hidden in a gross misunderstanding and abuse of the provisions in Article25(1) of the Constitution, which reads: "Subject to public order, morality and health and to the otherprovisions of this part..."  There can be no doubt about the  foresight and fairness of theintention behind these words in a  multi-religious democracy. But events in recent times speak aloud ofthe extent to which the conditionality of ‘public order’ can be communally  misused against those whoare powerless.

Those who can mobilise and incite the masses can subvert the life and liberty of others by contrivingthreats to public order. The creation of public disorder then becomes a convincing proof that the activityinvolved — whether it is propagating one’s faith or skinning a dead cow — is illegitimate. What isgrossly overlooked in this process is the duty of the ‘secular State’ to maintain law and order and todefend the rights of all citizens equally, and at any cost.

We had a taste of this reality recently.  The peace and communal harmony yatra we were organising wasbanned in Ayodhya on the pretext that it would disturb the law and order situation there, whereas those whoenjoy political clout under the present regime in Delhi and openly preach vitriolic communal violence enjoyfull freedom of movement and speech.

The third issue here is that of the wilful collapse or paralysis of the State. Increasingly, the readinessof the State to invoke legal  provisions against those who spread communal hate and disturb peace andharmony is being dictated by the clout of the offenders.  People like Bal Thackeray, Abdullah Bukhari,Ashok Singhal, Praveen Togadia, Acharya Giriraj  Kishore, Narendra Modi simply don’t care forlinguistic or social inhibitions. They can make the most inflammatory statements, defy the rule of law, andrest assured of their immunity from all consequences. The political culture of this country is taking a tragicturn by which the mettle of one’s leadership is proved by defying the rule of law publicly.

This is where Tehelka’s exposure is a turning point. It proves that it is those who violate the law whoare glorified; those who expose their corruption are hounded.

The lynching of the five Dalit youths in Haryana is  not, thus, a local event. It is a symbolicpointer to the degeneration that is overtaking the country. This descent to de facto anarchy must be arrestedforthwith. Allowing the law to take its course and bringing the criminals, irrespective of their clout, colouror creed, to justice is the first step towards national regeneration. If we fail to do this, then the nationis doomed.

(The authors are president of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front and faculty member of St. Stephen's College respectively.)