The Cow Vigilantes of Seoni
Modi promised us a New India during his campaigns, and just one day after the results were announced we hear a horrific story from Seoni, Madhya Pradesh - of how five cow vigilantes beat up three people (including a woman) for possession of beef. The police who rushed to the spot arrested the victims instead of catching the goons. But Subham Bhagel, one of the five guys, with utmost recklessness, uploads a video on Facebook of how he, along with his co-ideologues thrashed the victims - thinking this might make him the local attaboy (the link to his Facebook profile can be found below). He apparently belongs to a right wing fringe group called Shri Ram Sena which is known for Mangalore Pub Attack. The video goes viral, receives public condemnation, Subham deletes the video, but it was too late and the police were pressed to arrest the five. Subham now becomes the main accused, a merit that might win him BJP's candidature in the future. Click the link if you want to have a look at the prospective future politician: https://www.facebook.com/shubham.baghel.908
The incident was widely discussed on social media today morning after the news reports were out. There were people who condemned the attack and there were people who ridiculed the Congress State Government because the victims were arrested. There was also a theory that expounded on the possible involvement of Kamal Nath who is the current Congress Chief Minister of the State. BJP supporters have always blamed Kamal Nath for the Anti-Sikh riots of 1984. But it is to be noted that the Nanavati Commission appointed by the Vajpayee Government to investigate the riots confirmed that all the allegations against Kamal Nath lacked evidence and absolved him of any involvement. Court verdicts and commission reports cannot cure pathological hatred, which was why many on social media tried to bring up the 1984 riots, tied that to Kamal Nath, and then explained the conspiracy theory according to which the whole incident was staged by Kamal Nath himself. Why? To taint the image of Narendra Modi.
That exposition sounds very unreasonable. No Shri Ram Sena worker would connive with one of the most hated Congress faces to conspire against their own Supreme Leader. It appears to be very easy to convince people who lack context, which is why the IT cells of every political party recruit meme makers. The only thing certain here is that the police have erred. Did they really arrest the victims based on clear direction from the State Government? Or did they yield to local pressure?
Two reasons why local pressure carries more weight in this case:
1. Madhya Pradesh is a very conservative state, the Congress out of desperation realised that they had no option but to take the cow route to win the state election in December 2018. No one would have ever imagined in their wildest dreams that Congress would mention gaushala and gaumutra in their election manifesto. Cow has always been the classic BJP move and Congress just copied it. They yielded to local pressure and they did win the state election.
2. Seoni, where the incident took place, is BJP's forte. From 1993 it has always been the BJP winning the assembly elections and from 1998 the general elections. The only time BJP lost in Seoni was during 2013 assembly elections when Dinesh Rai Munmun who was an independent candidate back then, fought hard against the BJP and won the election. The irony is, Dinesh today is with the BJP and is also the current BJP MLA re-elected in 2018. What certainly also adds substance to this, is the fact that the BJP just won the MP seat here the day before the incident. Maybe the euphoria of BJP's resounding victory clouded the judgment of the local police.
The nation already deals with too much of trauma caused by cow vigilantism. The only prayer one could pray today is for her healing, and strength to swallow every drop of innocent blood spilled.
The incident was widely discussed on social media today morning after the news reports were out. There were people who condemned the attack and there were people who ridiculed the Congress State Government because the victims were arrested. There was also a theory that expounded on the possible involvement of Kamal Nath who is the current Congress Chief Minister of the State. BJP supporters have always blamed Kamal Nath for the Anti-Sikh riots of 1984. But it is to be noted that the Nanavati Commission appointed by the Vajpayee Government to investigate the riots confirmed that all the allegations against Kamal Nath lacked evidence and absolved him of any involvement. Court verdicts and commission reports cannot cure pathological hatred, which was why many on social media tried to bring up the 1984 riots, tied that to Kamal Nath, and then explained the conspiracy theory according to which the whole incident was staged by Kamal Nath himself. Why? To taint the image of Narendra Modi.
That exposition sounds very unreasonable. No Shri Ram Sena worker would connive with one of the most hated Congress faces to conspire against their own Supreme Leader. It appears to be very easy to convince people who lack context, which is why the IT cells of every political party recruit meme makers. The only thing certain here is that the police have erred. Did they really arrest the victims based on clear direction from the State Government? Or did they yield to local pressure?
Two reasons why local pressure carries more weight in this case:
1. Madhya Pradesh is a very conservative state, the Congress out of desperation realised that they had no option but to take the cow route to win the state election in December 2018. No one would have ever imagined in their wildest dreams that Congress would mention gaushala and gaumutra in their election manifesto. Cow has always been the classic BJP move and Congress just copied it. They yielded to local pressure and they did win the state election.
2. Seoni, where the incident took place, is BJP's forte. From 1993 it has always been the BJP winning the assembly elections and from 1998 the general elections. The only time BJP lost in Seoni was during 2013 assembly elections when Dinesh Rai Munmun who was an independent candidate back then, fought hard against the BJP and won the election. The irony is, Dinesh today is with the BJP and is also the current BJP MLA re-elected in 2018. What certainly also adds substance to this, is the fact that the BJP just won the MP seat here the day before the incident. Maybe the euphoria of BJP's resounding victory clouded the judgment of the local police.
The nation already deals with too much of trauma caused by cow vigilantism. The only prayer one could pray today is for her healing, and strength to swallow every drop of innocent blood spilled.
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