Shiv Sena slams BJP for double-standards on cow slaughter

The Shiv Sena questioned BJP’s Hindutva credentials after Meghalaya minister Sanbor Shullai made a remark promoting the consumption of beef

The Shiv Sena questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Hindutva credentials, calling it anti-Hindu after Meghalaya minister Sanbor Shullai made a remark promoting the consumption of beef. The Sena in an editorial in mouthpiece Saamana said the BJP should apologise to the victims of mob lynching and those booked on suspicions of consuming or transporting beef.

The Sena mouthpiece said BJP’s Hindutva is according to political convenience and called for a uniform policy on consumption of beef.

Last week, BJP minister Shullai encouraged people to eat beef instead of chicken, mutton or fish. The Sena mouthpiece said BJP’s Hindutva is according to political convenience and called for a uniform policy on consumption of beef. “Shullai has supported eating beef. We will not say hang him or call him a traitor [for his statements]. But BJP should apologise to all those who were lynched to death by mobs and those who were insulted for carrying beef and face cases because a BJP minister has [now] supported beef,” said the editorial.

The editorial further said that BJP is a pro-Hindu party but time has come for it to introspect whether its Hindutva is politically convenient. “The mob lynching during Modi’s first tenure was a disgrace to humanity,” remarked the editorial.

It further said that in the Northeast, beef is the staple diet and there are no restrictions on the slaughter of cows. “If someone in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and elsewhere says that cow is gau mata (a sacred animal) but says it’s a useful animal in Goa, Kerala and the Northeast, then it’s hypocritical and shows double-standards. How can the law change as per the state? Uniform Civil Code should be followed in the case of cows,” the editorial demanded.

State BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye declined to comment on the editorial. “We don’t comment on Saamana editorials,” he said.