RSS deputy chief Bhaiyyaji Joshi on Monday condemned the attacks on Dalits in the name of cow protection. On Sunday, the PM came down heavily on self-styled “cow protectors” for spreading communal hatred in the country.
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While cow protection and Ram mandir will remain emotive issues for Hindus of some stripes, Modi will realise that their actual electoral impact is lower than their decibel-levels. It quoted Article 48 of the Constitution as saying, “The State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and imroving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter fo cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle”.
A wave of Dalit protests that followed prompted the head of the BJP state government in Gujarat to resign last week.
Continuing his attack, Singh said, “On Una incident also, your so called love for Dalits would not have come to the fore had there not been so much agitation against the incident”. These people do not care about protection of cows.
Punjab police booked Gau Raksha Dal chief Satish Kumar for allegedly assaulting some people on the pretext of cow protection, a day after PM Modi asked the states to act against “fake” cow protectors.
In an emotional appeal, Modi had yesterday asked perpetrators of the violence on Dalits to attack him if they wanted to, but to stop attacking his Dalit “brethren”.
Addressing thousands of party workers at L.B. Stadium on Sunday evening, he said it was not a mere display of organizational strength of the party.
What right do we have to ill-treat our Dalit brothers and sisters?
Several major states are scheduled to vote for new state governments over the next 12 months. “The BJP and RSS will have to pay the price for such statements in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2017”. They have made a social group saying we are Dalits and nothing less. The number of cases of crime went up from 33,655 in 2012 to 47,064 in 2014.
Now that Modi has broken his silence, it should have a salutary impact on the current crisis that saw dalits becoming increasingly polarized.
Talking about farming and farmers Modi however warned against the excessive use of urea by farmers and said it leads to depletion of the fertility of soil.
Mr Modi’s remarks struck Mr Palshikar as “too little too late”.
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While the top leadership of the RSS seems to have added its voice to the PM’s damage control mission, a section of the outfit is displeased with what it feels to be a negative reflection on the allegiance shown by the bhakts.
