Double standards by the BJP government
Is it not time to stand up for your people yet?
The brutal murder of Mohammad Akhlaq, an old Indian villager who was beaten to death on a street near Dadri over rumours of eating beef is yet another case of manifesting the veiled agenda engaged by the party ruling at the central government in India. The rumour was emanated from a village priest, which then went viral, prompting the unleashing of violence and committing of such a heinous crime. More often than not, rabble rousing speech by leaders to vent their anger against a section of the society activates the demonetised rank and file to get the job done .
Ever since Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led union-government assumed power, there have been a number of incidents, which often dented the premise of religious tolerance and minority rights, part and parcel of the Indian constitution, which configure and interface multiculturalism and diversity in the country from time immemorial.
It appears that such preposterous attitudes towards religious minorities are not limited by the ruling party flock alone, even the government led law and order agencies have played a covert role in translating the clandestine move of the ruling party by ignoring the merits of the cases. The local police acted ludicrously by focusing on the culpability of the alleged crime by the deceased Akhlaq. In turn, the police sent the meat for lab test rather than prioritising to chase the culprits who vandalised the neighbourhood and killed the innocent villager.
In addition, only one of the federal ministers made a statement on the whole event as if it was a routine incident.
Elsewhere, the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on an extended world tour selling India to outmanoeuvre the global rich. As part of the ‘Make in India’ campaign, he advocates exports including the burgeoning meat industry. Nevertheless, his party tribe is least bothered about slaughtering animals, regardless of their religious sentiments as long as it fetches foreign reserve through export of processed meat. But at the same time, slaughtering of animals for food by the minority community is considered a palpable crime.
— The reader is an Indian chartered accountant based in Abu Dhabi
