Albert Colaco
Forces inimical to the progress of India as a modern forward looking nation appear to be bent upon taking the country backwards into the dark ages. Since 2015, these elements have resorted to mob mania, attacking innocent members of the minority community and beating them up mercilessly even lynching some of the victims.
It began in Dadri UP in 2015, when a Muslim man was attacked viciously in his own house by a mob on the pretext that he had stored beef in his house. He was brutally killed in front of his own family members. Since then, about ten persons have been murdered by bands of criminals in different parts of the country, mostly in BJP ruled states on the same pretext. These goons seem to have been emboldened after the BJP came to power at the Centre under the leadership of Narendra Modi in 2014.
After the brutal beating of some Dalit youth in Unna Gujarat over skinning of a dead cow there was a lull after PM Modi had belatedly spoken out against cow vigilantism. However, the lynching of Pehle Khan by a murderous mob at Alwar, Rajasthan a few days back shows that the so-called cow vigilantes were only lying low till the recent assembly elections were over.
Is the Modi government prepared for the consequences that would follow? It cannot pander to such criminal forces while shouting from the rooftop, ‘Sabka sat, sabka vikas’. Because it is obvious that these attacks are clearly and openly targeted against a minority community.
Does the Modi dispensation really want a modern developed India, or is that just a vote catching gimmick? If it is the former, then surely lawless groups cannot be allowed to run amok lynching people. It’s time, the Modi government woke up and reined in these divisive and criminal elements. The consequences of pandering to forces of religious extremism are obvious in our neighbourhood. Do we want a repeat of that in India?
