In Gujarat, it s better to be a cow than a Dalit. A video clip of four Dalit youth being thrashed by a group of cow vigilantes has angered the community and that anger burst onto the streets this week. A police constable lost his life and public property was destroyed. The youth were apparently skinning the carcass of a dead cow, something they have been doing for centuries, when they were attacked by vigilantes. The violent attack was shot on mobile phones and posted on social media. The following day, few of the Dalits consumed poison in protest and one of them died. Violence begets violence and the Dalits went into overdrive. Vigilante groups have been on the prowl in northern states. The murder of Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri for possessing beef and the hanging of Mohammad Majloom and Inayatullah Khan by self-proclaimed gau rakshaks in Latehar had the silent support of the BJP. This cynical and dangerous approach to politics was considered okay as long as the violence was directed against minorities. In Gujarat, something else seems to have happened. Cow vigilantism, for the first time, has started to divide the majority along caste lines. This, at a time when the BJP is attempting to romance its way into the hearts of Dalits in UP. The disturbing part is that the Anandiben Patel government did not act until it was too late. When power to thrash and even kill is vested in vigilante groups, there comes a time when situations go out of hand. This has happened before and will happen again. Communal politics eventually descends into violence. The greater risk to the Modi government is that communal violence will gradually overshadow its development agenda.
