Violence in pretext of cattle protection; SC sheds crocodile tears
Having taken serious objection to the extra legal powers the ‘Gau Rakshaks’ seem to be exerting, Supreme Court has said this is unacceptable. The court has also said it is the responsibility of the state governments to ensure such incidents do not occur. Even the central government has issued such diktats often and said it is the state that needs to control such incidents. All law and implementing agencies know cattle protection gangs have gained a notorious reputation. But when it comes to controlling, they all fall silent. Which simply means neither of them wants to take charge of the situation and control the damage.
It’s not like people are unaware of crimes in the name of cattle safety cannot be defended. This is a common fact known to even those who perpetuate violence under this pretext. Today, the society expects governments to put stringent measures in place to protect the interest of farmers and traders from Gau Raksha gangs. The states are yet to take cognizance of these matters in a serious way. Despite a big spurt in such incidents, Supreme Court has not pulled up states for failure of law system. Which basically would mean the SC isn’t interested in putting a stop to these incidents.
Despite stating the violence in the name of Gau Raksha cannot be tolerated, the court hasn’t given any ruling to ensure the Gau Raksha groups are banned or stopped from growing further. Why is the legal system not addressing the problem of some goondas coming together in the name of cattle and running a quasi-police department? All those brandishing powers are not innocent citizens. It is well known that they associate themselves with a particular political ideology and a party that is currently in power at the centre. Is the Supreme Court that innocent so as to not understand all this propaganda behind the act of Gau Raksha?
The party that gives them impetus is running the government. And it is no secret that the benefit of creating this scare in the name of Gau Raksha is going to the party. This is a government sponsored violence and SC should have issued a warning to the police and the centre. The police are unable to act owing to the backing the Gau Rakshaks enjoy by their political godfathers. SC needs to vest the police department with the power to register suo motu complaints in those states where such incidences are high. Unless this happens, nothing can stop this violence from spreading.
Supreme Court says the victims of this crime should not be categorized under the name of a religion. But the whole assault is happening on the community that is involved in the transfer and trading of cattle. Sangh Parivar has always been looking for pretexts to launch attack on a particular religion since long. Hence it floated theories such as ‘Love Jihad’ and created volatile atmosphere in the region. They want the society to be on tenterhooks with the other religion all the time. This polarization would finally benefit them politically and socially too. How does one not associate the target of crime with one religion when the religion itself has been made the target precisely? The Supreme Court is refusing to view this as an organized crime in that sense. As long as the law making agencies refuse to see that point, there would be no respite from this crime.
The legal system is vested with responsibility of checking this crime as much as the state and the centre are. Farmers are not free to sell their cattle and traders are never free from anxiety to buy them. Dairy farming is now seeming like a burden on the poor farmer, who are now hesitating to have any more cows for the fear of being assaulted.
The prospects of dairy farming are in serious danger in rural areas owing to this rise in crime against people who rear cattle and traders who buy them. If this continues, farmers may even stop dairy farming altogether for the fear of being attacked. Hence, the Supreme Court needs to act now to put a full stop to this organized crime from spreading further.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
