The writer, Devdutt Pattanaik, has correctly held both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responsible for the contemporary communal environment (“Holy cow, unholy violence,” Oct.6). It is clear that the present politically motivated, majority-appeasing moves by BJP is a retaliation against the minority-appeasing approach of the Congress and other parties followed earlier. The solution lies in educating the people and making them aware of the wrong intentions of politicians making hate speeches. The law and order machinery needs to act swiftly to take action against such miscreants. Developing more animal welfare centres and modern and scientific slaughterhouses will also help as the meat exports are of great value to our economy.
Nishant Choudhary,
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Ananya Vajpeyi seems to have selectively quoted from some Hindu texts/scriptures to suit her own line of reasoning (“The reactionary present,” Oct.6). Hers is a self-contradictory school of thought which, on the one hand, accepts the fact that Hinduism has numerous strands of philosophy; and, on the other hand, picks up just one of these strands and projects it as the central and all-encompassing tenet.
It would be good for her and all of us to understand that an overwhelming majority of Hindus live out their complete lives without any prejudices or favourites based on caste, creed and religion. For this majority, faith is the guiding light throughout their lives and they keep this faith limited to an individual/family level without seeking to create a community or public identity based on it. While there is no denying that a number of socially harmful rituals have made their way into Hinduism and these must be eradicated, this does not necessitate the negative broad-brushing the author has resorted to.
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Hyderabad
The Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Balyan’s statements on cow slaughter and the Congress party’s claim that it had banned cow slaughter in 24 out of 29 Indian States much before BJP was even born are equally harmful to secularism and communal harmony (“Minister decries cow slaughter,” and “Feeding the frenzy,” Oct. 6). It is notable that the Congress party had not done much to ban such slaughter even at a time when its election symbol was a cow and a calf. Making cow slaughter part of a political agenda, they are trying to divert the attention of the electorate from the burning issues such as poverty and inflation.
B. Prabha,
Varkala, Kerala
Meat consumption as a topic has moved from the dining table to media platforms and has now taken the form of a trigger instigating hatred and violence. The negligence and apathy of the state is shown in statements like those made by the Home Minister, who called it a non-communal issue. When our leaders are so blatantly ignoring the spread of communal hatred, it makes the common man ask whether those at the helm of affairs are indirectly responsible for the wave of communal hatred.
Iqra Syed,
Srinagar
The Editorial “Feeding the frenzy” (Oct.6) clearly presents the present division between Hindus and Muslims as one created by political leaders with vested interests. It is high time the honourable Prime Minister condemns this incident as his silence is giving legitimacy to the heinous act of the perpetrators. The PM spoke of a digital divide in India while he was at the Silicon Valley but, in effect, what his party men have brought in is a psychological divide between communities.
Abdul Nazer T.K.,
Kozhikode