Opinion: The Silence of Prime Minister On Cow Vigilantism Is Reminiscent Of Dr Manmohan Singh

One of the main election pitches of Prime minister Narendra Modi even as he stormed into power was that the earlier Prime minister Manmohan Singh was silent on many issues. The criticism of MMS was totally justified, as people looked up to the prime minister in many times when there is social unrest, economic uncertainties to name a few. This silence irked many people and was instrumental in the beating which Congress got in 2014. Times have changed since then, we now have a Prime Minister who is earning plaudits for communicating and reaching out to people through social media and his much famed Mann ki Baat.

While he has earned plaudits for his communication ability, Modi is now in the firing line for his silence on many of the incidents which threaten to strain the social fabric of India. Incidents of violence wrt cow meat have reached epic proportions where the perpetrators have not been brought to the books while the victims of such violence, most likely Dalits & Muslims have not been re-assured of their security. Civil society, activists, concerned citizens, Dalits & Muslims all are waiting with a baited breath if the Prime Minister would speak up and condemn the violence that is spreading like fire in the name of protection of cow. The CNN recently covered a news on how cow vigilantism and the consequential violence is spreading in India much to the embarrassment of our country.

Difference between the silence
The silence exhibited by Narendra Modi though is different from that of MMS. MMS was generally non-communicative to the public, he held very few press conferences. People rightly condemned the lack of communication with a thumping defeat. However, Mr. Modi, on the other hand, is very media friendly and more so in the case of social media presence. It is because of this reason that his silence on serious issues like cow vigilantism is strange and unacceptable, despite many Indian citizens injured adding to the embarrassing international coverage. Mr Modi’s silence on cow vigilantism which continues to shock majority of India is reminiscent of the pre-2014 Manmohan Singh.

The Logical Indian appeals to the Prime Minister to put the doubts and uncertainties to rest by condemning the violence which is being perpetrated in the name of cow and reinforce the faith of rule of law & secularism in the minds of its citizens. We urge the Prime Minister to reach out through social media and the press and request the state governments to take stern action against people who take the law into their own hands. Silence on this important issue would mean history will judge you on the same lines of Dr Manmohan Singh.