India is the world’s biggest exporter of buffalo meat, an industry mainly run by Muslims.
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“He is the Prime Minister of the nation, he ought to act against his ministers who irresponsibly commented on the unlucky incident of Dadri”, Alvi informed ANI. On Thursday, President Mukherjee again stressed the need to “amplify the voice of moderation”, saying that “tolerance and coexistence are basic tenets of our civilisation”. Akhlaq’s widow Ikraman, who suffered facial injuries, said at the family home.
“The Prime Minister has to take a look at it and help the farmers of the country”, he said. “Gandhiji would never make the kind of speeches you are making in Bihar”, he said.
Rashid said that about 10 to 14 BJP members “just pounced on me as soon as I entered the house”, saying he had feared for his life. But more recently, Hindu nationalists have been demanding the law be more stringently applied and even calling for a blanket ban on beef.
The PM also invoked President Pranab Mukherjee’s statement made on Wednesday warning against letting India’s core values of diversity and tolerance waste away.
On the same day Modi made his speech, BJP legislators in India’s northernmost state Jammu & Kashmir reportedly assaulted one of their Muslim colleagues in the state assembly for serving beef at a government hostel. What it did do successfully was give its otherwise god-obsessed and caste-ridden society the window dressing of secularism and liberalism but those who have studied India and its history have known the reality behind these tall claims. A few see his silence as indifference. We joined the group as they walked the city roads inspecting vehicles and seeking out anyone transporting cows for slaughter.
Asking to ignore such controversial statements by the leaders, PM said, “Country has to stay united and only communal harmony and brotherhood will take the nation forward”. He sidelined that Dadri issue and also this beef-eating issue. This majoritarian communalism does not begin with the BJP. This was graphically brought out on Friday, October 9, by the IBN-7 TV channel when it played a video clip of a tweet of Giriraj Singh. Hindu leaders also pledged to ensure that upcoming Muslim marriages went ahead without incident.
Referring to the blasts at his Patna rally in in 2013, Modi said: “There’s a conspiracy that Modi never shows his face again”.
Given this context, how should we assess Mr Modi’s real intentions? Across the country, they have been taking matters into their own hands over the past year. Sadhvi Prachi said on camera that those who eat beef deserve the same treatment as was meted out to Akhlaq.
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He criticized Modi for not speaking more strongly against the recent mob attack, and for his silence about comments like Som’s.
