A new Maharashtra of gau rakshaks
While those transporting cattle has been attacked before, lynchings are new
Exactly a year after the Devendra Fadnavis-Eknath Shinde government took over, the state witnessed two lynchings by so-called gau-rakshaks. Even Mumbai was singed. Though the lynchings took place far from the country’s financial capital, two of the victims belonged to Mumbai.
Incidentally, the two victims and the survivor are Pasmandas, the very category the PM spoke so feelingly about in Bhopal as he launched his 2024 campaign. In April, another Pasmanda was forced to bow before a cow and beg forgiveness for his “sin’’ of transporting cattle. Yet, no BJP “outreach’’ is as yet visible towards the victims.
Even under the Congress-NCP governments, Hindutva groups have been accused of assaulting and extorting money from Muslims transporting cattle for Bakri Eid. But lynching is new. Interestingly, when lynchings were making news in other BJP-ruled states between 2016-18, Maharashtra remained untouched.
