By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
Patna: For last several months Muslims in a village in Bihar are frightened lot. Communal harmony has been spoiled and peace is in danger – all in the name of cow. Thugs from Hindu community in an evenly divided Ababakarpur panchayat in Vaishali district have banned by force not only slaughter houses but beef trading as well. The minority community smells election in all the vicious campaign.
It all started before last Bakr Eid in November 2009 when some members of Hindu community were provoked by a convict, self-styled baba who has served jail term in a crime in 1998. In the name of cow protection, Mahender Sharan wanted to hold a 10-day yagya. He was not allowed by the administration. But he was able to vitiate the situation. Meat shops and traders were attacked. They started checking every person when he crossed their area if they suspected he was carrying meat. Since then there has been a complete ban on sale and purchase of beef in the area.
[Photo by bharatvoice.com]
It should be noted here that the cow campaign was started in the Ababakerpur panchayat in Chehrakalan block under Goraul Police Station in Vaishali district, about 20 kms from the state capital, soon after the All India Working Committee meet of RSS (9-11 Oct., 2009) in Rajgir, Bihar. RSS had passed a resolution to make village the focus for national development. That development should be cow-centric, their resolution said.
The Resolution No 3 titled “Make village the focus for National Development” talked about making villages of the country Gokuls, invoking Gandhi’s idea, through cow, agriculture and village industries. The resolution said the RSS is “clearly of the opinion that cow-centric, organic and natural farming based village model supported by artisanship and rural industries can provide sustainable development for Param Vaibhav Bharat.”
“Rural reconstruction suited to the modern age based on simple living and sacrifice (thyag) is the only alternative. Cow connects us to our surroundings. Cow-centred village pattern in tune with nature, will not only be more profitable because it is not capital and machine based, but also will increase land fertility by use of natural fertilisers and pest controls,” the resolution reads.
Ababakerpur is one of 12 panchayats under the Chehrakalan block. Ababakerpur has 8500 population with Muslims constituting about 50%.
Emboldened with the unwillingness of the administration to check the hoodlums from taking law into hand, self-styled Sharan baba organized a kalash yatra, all with vicious intention, on December 21 last year. Baba in fact wanted to hold a yagya on the issue but not allowed. So he took out the kalash yatra from Sehan village through Ababakarpur to Katahra village. For the protection of the yatra, heavy police enforcement was deployed from 10 police stations under the leadership of two DSPs. The entire area was turned into a police camp. On return when the yatra was passing through Ababakarpur the participants started abusing Muslims over cow slaughter. Then they held a 10-day yagya with mikes fitted in entire area and for the whole 10 days they tried to provoke the Muslim community to react but they maintained silence.
Interestingly, the administration has always asked the Muslim community to maintain patience but never tried to control the miscreants from the other community, complains a villager giving details of the incident to TwoCircles.net.
In the second week of this past July, some members of the Hindu community caught hold of a boy who was carrying meat and put him in confinement for days. This made the situation volatile forcing the senior district officials to call a peace meet.
On July 19 a peace meeting was called in Ababakarpur which was attended by SP, DM and other district officials besides members of the two communities. Citing licenses of meat shops not renewed for last some years they announced no meat shop will be opened but they allowed traders to purchase meat from outside and sell. Even this did not go down with the Hindu community and they created ugly scene at the peace meet. They even abused officials.
Why licenses were not renewed has another interesting story. Giving details to TCN, a prominent person from the village who wants to remain unnamed given the volatile situation said: the meat traders approached competent authority for renewal every year in the last six years. But they did not renew them saying they need not worry as they (officials) are not going to check. The villager sees a conspiracy behind not renewing the licenses because on the very basis the officials today have closed down meat shops.
A social activist from the Ababakarpur panchayat smells election behind the whole drama. “The movement started after RSS meet in Rajgir where they resolved to create model village with cow at centre. They want to polarize votes on this sentimental issue,” he says.
Far away from Bihar, a Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka has recently passed Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill 2010” (June 2010). It is said the bill is communal in intent. After Ram Mandir issue died its natural death, is Sangh Parivar replacing Ram with cow?