Narendra Modi during a function in at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace, in New Delhi. APNearly three weeks after the shameful incident of cow vigilantism in his home state, Gujarat, PM Narendra Modi has finally spoken up. Though without mentioning the Una incident in particular, Modi on Saturday slammed the self proclaimed 'gau rakshaks', calling them anti-social elements masquerading as cow protectors. Modi even, for the first time, dared to say that true 'gau sevaks' should understand that most of the cows die from consuming plastics and not due to slaughter.
Modi has said what a PM is supposed to say during such troubled times, both for the country and his government. But can the PM so easily gulp whatever he said just two years ago during the run up to the top post? His eloquent "pink revolution" speeches that cheered the saffron-loving crowds at several election rallies are very much alive on digital archives as well as in the minds of the people.
#TownhallMeeting: PM hits out at cow vigilantes, wants states to take action | Video
Modi cannot absolve himself from the responsibility of provoking the proud believers to be up in arms against those who slaughter gau maa (mother cow). Even at a time when the Congress-led UPA government had its coffin ready by itself with rampant corruption and administrative paralysis, Modi made cow slaughter a major poll plank, especially during election rallies in the Hindi heartland, which is incidentally known as the cow belt.
He slammed the then Central government's dream to bring in a Pink Revolution promoting cow slaughter and meat exports, but also the cow worshipers who took it lying down, repeatedly.
Dalits protest against the assault on their fellow community members in Una, Gujarat.In UP's Dwarka, Modi ignited the spirit of the Yadavs who keeps cows as a livestock and shunned the Yadav leaders who aligned with the Congress. In Ghaziabad and Madhya Pradesh, he reiterated the Dwarka speech. Reports of his similar or more fiery speeches at the Jain International Trade Organisation's meet and on the birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap are still available on the web.
Modi and his speeches won the elections, with a mandate that went beyond even the BJP's calculations. And India witnessed the repercussions of the 'Pink Revolution' speeches on several occasions in the form of the rampages by cow vigilantes. In UP's Dadri, Mohammed Akhlaq, father of an Indian Air Force officer, was lynched for allegedly eating and storing beef in his house. Even as Modi kept silence, his party colleagues shamelessly called to book the victim's family for cow slaughtering. Youths, mostly Muslims and dalits in several parts of the country, were beaten up by cow vigilantes on charges of eating or smuggling cow meat and skinning dead cows -- putting the image of India in bad light in front of the global community.
And the PM, who is known for his silence and late reactions to sensitive issues, has finally opened his mouth. Why? For anyone tracking the politics in the country, the answer is clear -- Una. Modi was forced to speak up following the dalit uprising in Una, a city in Gujarat's Saurashtra region, following the assault on their fellow community members. The Una agitation, in which thousands of dalits are taking part, is being viewed as the beginning of the end of the Gujarat model of BJP's rise by critics. Well, that could be an exaggerated claim, provided the nature of power politics, but it's clear that the BJP is on the backfoot following the Una uprising which even provoked the party top brass to show the door to Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel. The Una uprising obviously is a blow to BJP's desperate attempts to lure dalit and OBC votebanks across the country, and the party and its strongman Modi has no way out other than going for compromises, as is evident from his Townhall meeting Saturday.
BJP and Modi may survive the Una rage and the latter's condemnation of the cow vigilantes is most welcome. But when is he going to own up responsibility for fueling the venomous forces, who were provoked by his spirited oratory skills and found a savior in him?
(The views are personal)
