Facing mounting criticism that he has failed to confront religious intolerance in his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday sent his chief political enforcer to order party leaders to refrain from making statements that could be seen as condoning bigotry or violence against people who eat beef.
In the past month, three people have died after being attacked by Hindus enraged at reports of cows being slaughtered, smuggled or consumed.
The latest fatality came on Sunday, when a 16-year-old boy died from injuries he suffered on Oct. 9 when a Hindu mob attacked a truck with a gasoline bomb in the Kashmir Valley in northern India.
The mob formed when a local lawmaker served kebabs and hamburgers at a “beef party” to protest a proposed ban on the meat in Jammu and Kashmir.
As word spread of the teenager’s death, Modi’s political enforcer, BJP President Amit Shah was in the process of reprimanding several members of the so-called beef brigade — high-profile party officials who have recently made increasingly provocative statements widely interpreted as excusing or justifying assaults on those who slaughter or consume cows, which many Hindus consider sacred.
The latest issue of Panchjanya, a magazine published by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP’s ideological parent, includes an article that cites Hindu scripture to justify killing “sinners” who slaughter cows.
Such comments, along with Modi’s failure to condemn them promptly, have contributed to a growing political backlash.
Shah summoned BJP Member of Parliament Sakshi Maharaj, who on Saturday advocated the death penalty for anyone caught slaughtering a cow.
He also reprimanded Haryana State Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who said in a recent interview with the Indian Express: “Muslims can live here, but in this country, they will have to stop eating beef.”
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