Sheer Barbarism

The murder of Akhlaq by a crowd of 200-odd villagers on the basis of a beef-eating rumour is a gruesome proof of how vulnerable Indian society has become. This is perhaps the most shocking murder of its kind in the recent memory and naturally got wide publicity even in foreign media in the globalised environment of information flow putting India in a poor light. Many insist to take it as a wakeup call for the countrymen. Certainly, we should not allow this great country to descend into an uncivilised and barbarous banana state where people can take an innocent life like this defying all sense of culture and the law of the land and Constitution.
      Defending the murder as an accident by union minister Mahesh Sharma is all the more shocking. BJP leaders should also think what image they are creating of our great country before the world. A few years ago, the entire world used to marvel at our secular and inclusive culture and politics where the president was a Muslim, the prime minister a Sikh and the president of the ruling party a Christian. Indeed, it was the superb example of sarv dharm sambhava! Globally, intellectuals and leaders used to wonder what is there in India that despite such a plurality of caste, religion and language, there is so much harmony. But what Dadri murder proves now?
      Most people rightly suspect that beef was not the real reason behind the murder. There is a very strong possibility that it was a political conspiracy to fan communal hysteria. In the days of irresponsible social media, it has become all the easier. It is a pity that the modern technology has become handmaiden of the dark-age mentality rather than serving for the betterment and welfare of the society.
       Politicians indeed had tasted blood in the last Lok Sabha elections. They know the instant advantage of such things in terms of political returns. So why will they not try it out again when the most crucial elections after the last Lok Sabha polls are to take place in Bihar? There is great need for certain political interests to polarise electorate and reap the electoral advantage.
      But such sinister methods in politics do not result into good outcome. People should realise that use of religion in politics creates only hatred, bad blood and misery. When politicians are allowed to use religion for their selfish ends, the inherent purpose of religion to create amity and unity among human beings gets lost.
      The redeeming development is that a lot of people have come out in the open to oppose the current attempt of justifying the unfortunate killing for political gains. So far as beef-eating is concerned, some intellectuals have cited ancient Hindu scriptures to establish beyond doubt that even upper caste Hindus and great rishis ate beef in days of yore. Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar for one has mentioned Bhavabhuti’s play in this context. Vice-president Hamid Ansari has reminded that article 21 of the Constitution makes it incumbent upon the state to protect the right to life of every citizen irrespective of his or her religion. It speaks poorly of us that our guest at the Republic Day parade, US President Barack Obama had to remind us of this provision of our Constitution.
      And last but not the least, paying huge compensation to the family of Akhlaq is not a solution to tackle the issue; it is like extending help to the saffron fringe elements to roam around and crying of Muslim ‘appeasement’ hoarse polarising voters in Bihar.
(Note: The article was first published in the Lokayat magazine: October, 2015)