PM lashes out at cow vigilantes again

For the second  consecutive day Prime Minister Narendra Modi denounced cow vigilantes demanding that they are exposed and punished. Speaking at a public function at Gajwel in Telangana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked people to beware of its ‘fake’ protectors trying to divide society and the country and asked the states to severely punish them.

Terming cattle as country’s wealth, he said a handful of people were trying to create tension in society in the name of cow protection. “I would like to tell all countrymen that they beware of these fake cow protectors,” Modi said. The Prime Minister asked the states to identify people who want to destroy the social fabric and take stern action against them.

Modi’s comments come at a time when his government and BJP are facing flak over incidents of violence against Dalits and Muslims by cow vigilantes in various states including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Modi said there is a need to “expose” these people so they do not succeed in their nefarious designs.

“This handful of people must not be allowed to destroy your good work for their vested interest,” he said while addressing a public meeting on his first visit to Telangana after assuming office. In his first Town-Hall in Delhi, Modi had on Saturday strongly rebuked the cow vigilantes, saying most of them were “anti-social” elements running ‘shops’ in the name of cow protection which made him ‘angry’.

Modi also chose the occasion to talk about the vitality of cooperative federalism. He said there was a time when “language of tension” was spoken between the Centre and the states. 

“Today, the Centre and the states are working shoulder to shoulder to take the nation to new heights of progress, the Prime Minister said, and asked the states to compete among themselves for further growth and development. The solution to all our problems lies in development,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of state’s first fertiliser plant and dedicated to the nation 1,200 MW thermal power station. Modi also inaugurated Phase I of “Mission Bhagiratha”, aimed at providing safe drinking water to people in the area.