Stop eating beef and give cow the status of 'Rashtra Mata', say some leaders of the RSS and the BJP as a way out to end the mob lynching of cow smuggling suspects that has sparked outrage in the country.
As the latest incident of the killing of a Muslim man over suspicion of being a cow smuggler in Rajasthan's Alwar district raised political temperatures, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi on Tuesday dubbed those raising the issue of lynching as "hypocrites", saying they have forgotten the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the alleged "lynching of karsevaks" in 2002 that triggered communal riots in Gujarat.
On the other hand, senior opposition leader and former Union minister Sharad Yadav hit out at the BJP, saying Muslims were often the victims of mob lynching and this underscored the agenda of "Hindu-Muslim divide" of the organisations affiliated to the saffron party.
RSS leader Indresh Kumar said if the practice of eating cow meat was stopped, many crimes of the 'Satan' could be curtailed, in an apparent reference to the incidents of mob lynching.
"If the practice of eating cow meat is stopped, many such crimes of the 'Satan' could be stopped," he said in Ranchi where he was there to attend a programme of the Hindu Jagran Manch on Monday.
Noting that killing a cow was not approved by any religion, Kumar also said any mob lynching incident is condemnable.
Union minister Giriraj Singh appeared to endorse the views of Kumar on the need for stopping the practice of eating cow meat, noting that he is a "mature" man and that whatever he said must be "after a proper thought".
Escalating the row over the Alwar incident, Rajasthan minister Jaswant Yadav asked Muslims to stop the cow smuggling business, saying it it "boils the blood of the Hindus". He also asked the Muslims to understand the sentiments of the Hindus.
Offering condolences to the family of the victim, Yadav,a senior BJP leader, said he stood against those who take law into their hands.
A BJP MLA from Telangana said incidents of lynching will not stop until cow gets the status of 'Rashtra Mata'(mother of the nation).
T Raja Singh Lodh, who represents Goshamahal in Hyderabad, said in a video message on a social networking website on Sunday he does not want "khoon-kharaba" (bloodletting) on the issue, but if it has to stop, cow must be declared 'mother of the nation'.
In the 7-minute clip, the lawmmaker also urged MPs to make such a demand in Parliament.
"Till cow is not accorded the status of 'Rashtra Mata', I feel the war for 'gau raksha' (cow protection) will not stop even if 'gau rakshaks' (cow protectors) are put into jails or bullets are fired at them," Singh said.
He also sought Prime Mininister Narendra Modi's support for the demand.
"Till the time a ministry of cow protection is created in every state and stringent laws are enacted for cow protection, I feel such killings will not stop....This is my feeling and I am telling the fact," Singh, known for making controversial remarks, said.
Maintaining he never supported the killing or beating up of people by "gau rakshaks", Singh, however, deplored that "nobody discusses protection of cows and how to stop such violence".
(PTI)
