The prevailing wind is blowing so strongly against the proposed cow yatra on October 2 in Shillong that even the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has felt the need to publicly oppose it.
A Hindu group wants the cow declared as the “nation’s mother” and to put an end to cow slaughter. In this vein, they had planned to hold a rally in the state capital on October 2.
The BJP has always struggled to make inroads into Christian-majority Meghalaya where beef is a beloved part of the diet of most of the population. On the other hand, the BJP is closely tied with cow protection measures and even cow vigilantism in other parts of the country. Only last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been pictured hugging and kissing a calf born at his official residence in New Delhi.
The Meghalaya BJP, though, tries to steer away from anything that could cost it support among non-Hindus. That led party MLA and cabinet minister Alexander Laloo Hek today to say that the cow yatra organisers should not be given permission to hold their planned event.
“These groups will create unnecessary misunderstanding between the sentiments of the locals, so, in order to prevent this, permission should be denied for any cow yatra,” Hek said, adding that the BJP is a political party for all Indians not just for a particular community.
When asked whether the cow rally is part of a plot to convert Christian to Hinduism, Hek rejected this completely, saying that he is still a Christian despite having been with the BJP (on and off) since 1986.
BJP spokesperson Mariahom Kharkrang added that even states like Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland (where the BJP either rules or is in the ruling alliance like Meghalaya) have also denied the cow yatra organisers permission, so the question of the BJP having a role here does not arise.
“My message for these groups is that India is a secular country. Anybody who wants to practise their faith can do so but not by creating misunderstanding,” Hek added.
