Mohammed Akhlaq is the latest victim of cow nationalism. Those who have underplayed the recent campaign against cattle slaughter that is sweeping the country or tried to laugh it away, claiming it was a harmless noise of fringe elements in the Sangh Parivar, would do well to take note of Akhlaq's murder. Or will we be told once again not to get too excited as it is only a local affair and that it does not indicate a real national trend?
The most alarming part of the attack is that it resulted from an open call for murder. An announcement in a temple on Monday night instigated a mob to descend on the Akhlaq home and assault the family. Fifty-year-old Mohammed Akhlaq was killed, his son left unconscious, their home ransacked and the refrigerator turned upside down as their attackers searched for the beef that was supposed to be hidden there.
The act and the intent
The police, it has been reported, has seized the meat and sent it to a forensic laboratory to be tested. This prompt state action makes the victim a suspect himself. “What if the meat is not beef?” Mohammed Akhlaq's daughter asked. “Will they return my father?”
But the mob was driven by a noble national cause: to protect the cow. The way things stand, the courts might just be persuaded to take this intention into consideration. After all, that's what happened when the courts decided the quantum of punishment for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons in Orissa in 1999: it was the anger against conversion that led to the act. The act was wrong, the intent just.
This has been the justification for a long time. The demolition of the Babri Masjid was perhaps not right, we are told, but the centuries-old feeling of humiliation at the sight of the mosque was genuine. The killing of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat is something no civil society should support but was it not the result of real anger at the burning of karsevaks in the Sabarmati Express? After all, shouldn't we ask who started the fire?
Cows and women
The Akhlaqs lived in Dadari. It is barely 45 kilometres from Delhi, but is part of Uttar Pradesh. This incident needs to be seen together with the attacks on Muslims in Muzaffarnagar in August and September, 2013, which led to demographic shift in the region. The violence in Atali in Haryana over the construction of a mosque earlier this year also needs to be kept in mind. Ground reports from Rohtak tell us that the most potent mobilising tool in this region is the cow.
The other tool is the honour of bahu and beti – daughters-in-law and daughters. Muslims are, of course, always on the prowl, looking to further their love jihad by luring Hindu women into relationships in order to convert them to Islam. All it takes is a rumour of molestation to provoke violence against Muslims.
The gradual hardening of anti-Muslim sentiment is reaching the level at which every attack is a warning to the community that something like the violence visited upon the Akhlaq family could easily happen to them.
Muslims under attack
Recent incidents show a pattern: Violence is taking place in areas which had been traditionally peaceful and free of animosity against Muslims. Various affiliates of the Sangh Parivar have been hard at work.
Stories of attacks on Muslims and mass boycotts against the community in Jharkhand are now common there. Last week's violence in Ranchi after meat was found outside two temples is only the tip of the iceberg. Small incidents like a statue of a god falling over are being used as pretexts to attack Muslims. Boycotts of Muslims by adivasis is a new phenomenon. But observers are not surprised. Similar patterns can be seen in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
We now seem to be witnessing the emergence of a spontaneous and joyous communalism. The whole village participates in the orgy of violence and then defends its action. It resists lawful state action, as was witnessed in this case, where the mob clashed with the police after some murder suspects were arrested. In Muzaffarnagar, this took the form of mass blockades by villagers, led by women. These strategies give the police an excuse for not acting against the perpetrators of the crimes.
Muslims are told to be content with whatever compensation is doled out to them. A consensus binds all political parties, who seem content to advise Muslims to adjust with the situation. The killing of Mohammed Akhlaq sends out a clear signal that the nation belongs to Hindus. They have first claim over it and Muslims have to be realistic.
Today, on October 2, Gandhi Smriti in Delhi will mark the Mahatma's birth anniversary with a programme of bhajans. But few Gandhians will visit the Akhlaq family. Instead of celebrating Gandhi Jayanti this year, it would perhaps be more appropriate to mark it as a day of mourning, a day of introspection.
The most alarming part of the attack is that it resulted from an open call for murder. An announcement in a temple on Monday night instigated a mob to descend on the Akhlaq home and assault the family. Fifty-year-old Mohammed Akhlaq was killed, his son left unconscious, their home ransacked and the refrigerator turned upside down as their attackers searched for the beef that was supposed to be hidden there.
The act and the intent
The police, it has been reported, has seized the meat and sent it to a forensic laboratory to be tested. This prompt state action makes the victim a suspect himself. “What if the meat is not beef?” Mohammed Akhlaq's daughter asked. “Will they return my father?”
But the mob was driven by a noble national cause: to protect the cow. The way things stand, the courts might just be persuaded to take this intention into consideration. After all, that's what happened when the courts decided the quantum of punishment for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons in Orissa in 1999: it was the anger against conversion that led to the act. The act was wrong, the intent just.
This has been the justification for a long time. The demolition of the Babri Masjid was perhaps not right, we are told, but the centuries-old feeling of humiliation at the sight of the mosque was genuine. The killing of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat is something no civil society should support but was it not the result of real anger at the burning of karsevaks in the Sabarmati Express? After all, shouldn't we ask who started the fire?
Cows and women
The Akhlaqs lived in Dadari. It is barely 45 kilometres from Delhi, but is part of Uttar Pradesh. This incident needs to be seen together with the attacks on Muslims in Muzaffarnagar in August and September, 2013, which led to demographic shift in the region. The violence in Atali in Haryana over the construction of a mosque earlier this year also needs to be kept in mind. Ground reports from Rohtak tell us that the most potent mobilising tool in this region is the cow.
The other tool is the honour of bahu and beti – daughters-in-law and daughters. Muslims are, of course, always on the prowl, looking to further their love jihad by luring Hindu women into relationships in order to convert them to Islam. All it takes is a rumour of molestation to provoke violence against Muslims.
The gradual hardening of anti-Muslim sentiment is reaching the level at which every attack is a warning to the community that something like the violence visited upon the Akhlaq family could easily happen to them.
Muslims under attack
Recent incidents show a pattern: Violence is taking place in areas which had been traditionally peaceful and free of animosity against Muslims. Various affiliates of the Sangh Parivar have been hard at work.
Stories of attacks on Muslims and mass boycotts against the community in Jharkhand are now common there. Last week's violence in Ranchi after meat was found outside two temples is only the tip of the iceberg. Small incidents like a statue of a god falling over are being used as pretexts to attack Muslims. Boycotts of Muslims by adivasis is a new phenomenon. But observers are not surprised. Similar patterns can be seen in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
We now seem to be witnessing the emergence of a spontaneous and joyous communalism. The whole village participates in the orgy of violence and then defends its action. It resists lawful state action, as was witnessed in this case, where the mob clashed with the police after some murder suspects were arrested. In Muzaffarnagar, this took the form of mass blockades by villagers, led by women. These strategies give the police an excuse for not acting against the perpetrators of the crimes.
Muslims are told to be content with whatever compensation is doled out to them. A consensus binds all political parties, who seem content to advise Muslims to adjust with the situation. The killing of Mohammed Akhlaq sends out a clear signal that the nation belongs to Hindus. They have first claim over it and Muslims have to be realistic.
Today, on October 2, Gandhi Smriti in Delhi will mark the Mahatma's birth anniversary with a programme of bhajans. But few Gandhians will visit the Akhlaq family. Instead of celebrating Gandhi Jayanti this year, it would perhaps be more appropriate to mark it as a day of mourning, a day of introspection.
You’ve read Scroll.
Now help sustain it
Scroll is funded by readers, not corporate owners. If you believe our work matters, support our newsroom. Become a member today!
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!