RSS mouthpiece defends Dadri lynching, says Vedas ordered killing of cow killers

Fuelling the ongoing beef debate, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mouthpiece in its cover story has said that the killing of Mohammad Iqlakh in Dadri over beef consumption rumours could not have been “without reason” and even the “Vedas mandate killing of those who slaughter cows”.

An article in RSS organ Panchjanya said, “The Vedas order killing of anyone who slaughters the cow. Cow slaughter is a big issue for the Hindu community. For many of us it’s a question of life and death.”

The article also questioned the rebellion by writers who are returning their awards to protest the lynching episode.

“You (writers) did not see the cow slaughter by Iqlakh. You didn’t see the fact that none of the media reports on Dadri mentioned any personal enmity of anyone with Iqlakh. Dadri village has never even seen any communal tension. One could have believed Iqlakh’s death to be without reason but then we have the Newton’s law of every action inviting an equal and opposite reaction.

“The incident (Iqlakh’s killing) in a village that has a history of peace could not have been without reason.”

The article further asks the rebelling writers why they “fail to question the social mindset which encouraged Mohammad Iqlakh to commit a crime which could have such grave consequences”.

Holding that all present day Muslims were Hindus some generations back, the article said, “Who has taught converted Indians to spit on their own culture and values? After all, all Indian Muslims, including Iqlakh, were Hindus until few generations ago. Iqlakh’s ancestors too were cow protectors who like the many courageous people used to punish cow killers.

“How did these converts become so hateful as to turn cow killers from cow protectors?”

While acknowledging that there is a law of land and no one should have taken the law into their hands in Dadri, the article goes on to add, ”Of course, India has laws and no one has the right to take laws into their hands but what should one say about those people and their leaders who, while living among 80 per cent Hindus, have no concerns for the majority sentiment.”

The article says radical Muslim organisations have since centuries been working to “vitiate” the minds of converts on issues such as cow protection.

“Madrassas and India’s Muslim leadership teaches the Muslims to hate all their traditions. It is perhaps due to the acts (of radicals) that Iqlakh ended up killing a cow though the probe findings are yet to come out,” says the article.

As the RSS organ’s justification of Dadri killing triggered a political storm, Panchjanya editor Hitesh Shankar distanced himself from the piece saying the views expressed in the article are personal.

“We don’t support any violent incident. The writer has expressed his independent views. These are not editorial views. I don’t recollect any write up justifying Iqlakh’s killing. The Dadri incident should be probed,” Shankar said.

The article also questions rebelling writers over their silence on the past killings during Congress rule including on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the killings and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1992, the Chhitisingpora massacre of Sikhs in Kashmir and the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Insinuating a conspiracy against India in this wave of rebellion by “progressive communist” writers, the cover article said, “A section apprehends in this rebellion a conspiracy against the ongoing development of India under the rule of the National Democratic Alliance government. This section feels that these writers are acting like puppets in the hands of anti-India forces and are bent upon malignant the national image.”

The RSS article has also called for a thorough probe into the credentials of writers returning the Sahitya Akademi and other awards, and has accused their “anguish of being laced with clear political bias”.