06-28-2017, 10:13 PM
*** 29-Jun-17 World View -- Thousands in cities across India protest lynchings of Muslims and Dalits by cow vigilantes
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Thousands in cities across India protest lynchings of Muslims and Dalits by cow vigilantes
****
![[Image: g170628b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170628b.jpg)
A protester in Hyderabad, India, on Wednesday holds up a sign saying 'Stop Lynching' (AP)
Thousands of Indians demonstrated in cities across India on Wednesday
against lynchings and attacks on men and boys by cow vigilantes. Cows
are held sacred in the Hindu religion. The protests took place in
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Lucknow, and other
cities.
The slogan for the protests was "Not in my name," because some people
justified the lynchings in the name of the Hindu religion. Other
banners read "Stop Cow Terrorism," "stand up to Hindu terrorism" and
"say no to Brahminism." Some protesters referred to India as
"Lynchistan."
Last Friday, in a train on the outskirts of New Delhi, a mob of 20
people fatally stabbed 16-year-old Muslim Junaid Khan after an
argument over seats that turned into a lynching when the mob accused
him and three others of being "beef-eaters." Khan was thrown off the
train, where he bled to death.
Although the train was packed with commuters, witnesses have refused
to come forward. However, four people, including two employees of the
government of Delhi, have been identified and arrested as
perpetrators.
There have been five cow vigilante killings in the last three months,
almost all of them in broad daylight.
On April 1, Pehlu Khan, a Muslim cattle trader, was lynched by a mob
in the western state of Rajasthan as he transported cattle he had
bought at an animal fair back to his home state of Haryana. Khan and
his family were small dairy farmers.
In May, two Muslim men were beaten to death over allegations of cattle
theft in India's northeast.
However, Muslims are not the only ones being targeted by cow
vigilantes. There have also been lynchings of people in the
"untouchable" caste Dalit, many of whom have jobs related to cows,
such as disposing of dead cows. Four Dalits in Gujarat were brutally beaten
by cow vigilantes in August
of last year for allegedly killing a cow, which later investigation
revealed to have been killed by a lion.
Many Indians are pointing the finger at president Narendra Modi and
his ruling BJP party (Bharatiya Janata Party), which are strongly
supportive of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism). They point out that BJP
politicians are silent when a Muslim is lynched by cow vigilantes, but
they were outraged over the recent public slaughter of a calf by Youth
Congress activists in Kerala. They say that the silence of Modi and
the BJP are, in effect, inciting violence against Muslims and Dalits
by cow vigilantes. New Delhi TV and Daily Sabah (Turkey) and Al Jazeera (Doha) and Free Press Journal (India)
****
**** Concerns grow over communal violence between Hindus and Muslims
****
According to a study by the IndiaSpend organization, cow vigilante
attacks began in 2010, but have gotten much worse since Narendra Modi
and the ruling BJP party came to power in 2014.
According to the IndiaSpend report, since 2010 cow vigilantes targeted
Muslims 51% of the time. 86% of the Indians killed in 63 incidents
were Muslims. As many as 124 people were also injured in these
attacks. More than half (52%) of these attacks were based on
unsubstantiated rumors.
2017 has been the worst year so far over slaughtering of cattle or
possessing cattle meat, with 20 cow-terror attacks reported.
The targets were Muslim in 51% of the cases, Hindus of Dalit caste in
8% of the cases, 15% Hindu of undetermined caste, 5% Sikh, and 1.6%
Christian.
Hindu veneration of cows is an extremely emotional issue in India, and
has played an important part in India's last two generational crisis
wars. The bloody 1857 rebellion against British colonists was
triggered when Indian soldiers serving under the command of the
British army were ordered to use a new kind of gun cartridge greased
with tallow, which was allegedly made of beef and pork fat. Rumors
spread rapidly that the British defiling the bodies of the soldiers by
breaking their castes, which was the punishment for eating beef.
The next generational crisis war was the Partition war of 1947, which
followed the partitioning of the Indian subcontinent into India and
Pakistan. The debate over whether to create one or two countries was
settled by the argument that Hindus and Muslims can't live together
because Muslims can't stand pigs and Hindus can't eat cows.
The rise of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) and cow veneration in the
last few years, combined with the rapidly growing violence in Kashmir,
signals that the fault line between Hindus and Muslims in India is
growing again, and that the old passions that led to the bloody 1857
Rebellion and the even more bloody 1947 Partition war are reviving
again. DNA India and IndiaSpend and India Times and Washington Post
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, India, Narendra Modi, Hindutva, Cow vigilantes,
Junaid Khan, Pehlu Khan, Dalits, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP,
IndiaSpend, Kashmir
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Thousands in cities across India protest lynchings of Muslims and Dalits by cow vigilantes
- Concerns grow over communal violence between Hindus and Muslims
****
**** Thousands in cities across India protest lynchings of Muslims and Dalits by cow vigilantes
****
A protester in Hyderabad, India, on Wednesday holds up a sign saying 'Stop Lynching' (AP)
Thousands of Indians demonstrated in cities across India on Wednesday
against lynchings and attacks on men and boys by cow vigilantes. Cows
are held sacred in the Hindu religion. The protests took place in
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Lucknow, and other
cities.
The slogan for the protests was "Not in my name," because some people
justified the lynchings in the name of the Hindu religion. Other
banners read "Stop Cow Terrorism," "stand up to Hindu terrorism" and
"say no to Brahminism." Some protesters referred to India as
"Lynchistan."
Last Friday, in a train on the outskirts of New Delhi, a mob of 20
people fatally stabbed 16-year-old Muslim Junaid Khan after an
argument over seats that turned into a lynching when the mob accused
him and three others of being "beef-eaters." Khan was thrown off the
train, where he bled to death.
Although the train was packed with commuters, witnesses have refused
to come forward. However, four people, including two employees of the
government of Delhi, have been identified and arrested as
perpetrators.
There have been five cow vigilante killings in the last three months,
almost all of them in broad daylight.
On April 1, Pehlu Khan, a Muslim cattle trader, was lynched by a mob
in the western state of Rajasthan as he transported cattle he had
bought at an animal fair back to his home state of Haryana. Khan and
his family were small dairy farmers.
In May, two Muslim men were beaten to death over allegations of cattle
theft in India's northeast.
However, Muslims are not the only ones being targeted by cow
vigilantes. There have also been lynchings of people in the
"untouchable" caste Dalit, many of whom have jobs related to cows,
such as disposing of dead cows. Four Dalits in Gujarat were brutally beaten
by cow vigilantes in August
of last year for allegedly killing a cow, which later investigation
revealed to have been killed by a lion.
Many Indians are pointing the finger at president Narendra Modi and
his ruling BJP party (Bharatiya Janata Party), which are strongly
supportive of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism). They point out that BJP
politicians are silent when a Muslim is lynched by cow vigilantes, but
they were outraged over the recent public slaughter of a calf by Youth
Congress activists in Kerala. They say that the silence of Modi and
the BJP are, in effect, inciting violence against Muslims and Dalits
by cow vigilantes. New Delhi TV and Daily Sabah (Turkey) and Al Jazeera (Doha) and Free Press Journal (India)
****
**** Concerns grow over communal violence between Hindus and Muslims
****
According to a study by the IndiaSpend organization, cow vigilante
attacks began in 2010, but have gotten much worse since Narendra Modi
and the ruling BJP party came to power in 2014.
According to the IndiaSpend report, since 2010 cow vigilantes targeted
Muslims 51% of the time. 86% of the Indians killed in 63 incidents
were Muslims. As many as 124 people were also injured in these
attacks. More than half (52%) of these attacks were based on
unsubstantiated rumors.
2017 has been the worst year so far over slaughtering of cattle or
possessing cattle meat, with 20 cow-terror attacks reported.
The targets were Muslim in 51% of the cases, Hindus of Dalit caste in
8% of the cases, 15% Hindu of undetermined caste, 5% Sikh, and 1.6%
Christian.
Hindu veneration of cows is an extremely emotional issue in India, and
has played an important part in India's last two generational crisis
wars. The bloody 1857 rebellion against British colonists was
triggered when Indian soldiers serving under the command of the
British army were ordered to use a new kind of gun cartridge greased
with tallow, which was allegedly made of beef and pork fat. Rumors
spread rapidly that the British defiling the bodies of the soldiers by
breaking their castes, which was the punishment for eating beef.
The next generational crisis war was the Partition war of 1947, which
followed the partitioning of the Indian subcontinent into India and
Pakistan. The debate over whether to create one or two countries was
settled by the argument that Hindus and Muslims can't live together
because Muslims can't stand pigs and Hindus can't eat cows.
The rise of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) and cow veneration in the
last few years, combined with the rapidly growing violence in Kashmir,
signals that the fault line between Hindus and Muslims in India is
growing again, and that the old passions that led to the bloody 1857
Rebellion and the even more bloody 1947 Partition war are reviving
again. DNA India and IndiaSpend and India Times and Washington Post
Related Articles
- India's Narendra Modi finally hits out at Cow Protectors ('Gau Rakshaks') (07-Aug-2016)
- Narendra Modi and rise of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) in India (24-Aug-2014)
- 'Hindutva' terrorist violence against Muslims shocks Indians (06-Nov-2008)
- As Narendra Modi visits Washington, China threatens India after border clash (28-Jun-2017)
- India declares nationwide prohibition on sales of cattle for slaughter (28-May-2017)
- India's 'Operation All-Out' brings Kashmir closer to all-out war (24-Jun-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, India, Narendra Modi, Hindutva, Cow vigilantes,
Junaid Khan, Pehlu Khan, Dalits, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP,
IndiaSpend, Kashmir
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
