[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he other ostensible reason for various state governments in India and many central leaders getting vocal to ban cow slaughter has been, of course, to consolidate and fit their slacked political position to the occasion.
This is one of the moves of the BJP that is part of the damaging agent to the secular character of Great India. Today, the very objective of secularism has come under increasing strain.
With hard core Saffronist in Narendra Modi holding the baton it isn’t surprising that certain elements are making efforts the audience to see more Saffron stuff in them.Television actress Smriti Irani was awarded the fatty Human Resource Development portfolio and she repaid Mr. Modi by declaring Christmas as ‘Good Governance Day’. External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj too expressed her gratitude to the Saffron giants by demanding that Bhagwad Gita be declared “Rashtriya Granth” (national scripture).
For Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis simply demanding cow slaughter is a stereotype issue. So he chose to add some pungent stuff in his affair--five years jail and Rs 10,000 fine for possession and sale of beef in his State. There was loud applauding from the Saffron platform for Mr. Fadnavis for being more Saffron than other chief ministers. Feeling relegated by this development, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh had a hard time looking for factor that will propel him to another level higher than his Maharashtra counterpart. An attractive idea cropped up for Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He chose to compare cow slaughter with homicide, and had brought a ‘stricter law by amending the previous legislation that was found wanting in some respect.’
His government not only bans ‘slaughter of cow progeny’ but also transport, storage and eating. Mr. Chouhan said his government will not allow beef export at any cost and will make efforts to promote vegetarianism. He also said his government had ‘rejected several proposals to set up modern slaughterhouses in his state in the last few years.’
Sadly, we do not see any concerted and full-force opposition against this move of the Saffronists.
