Swaraj Abhiyan says BJP 'hounded by its own beast'

In wake of the murder of a BJP worker in Karnataka by cow vigilantes, Swaraj Abhiyan today took a swipe at BJP saying it was being “hounded by its own beast” as it accused the party of showing tacit support to ‘gau rakshaks’.

Swaraj Abhiyan also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi keeps his word of bringing such self-professed vigilante groups to justice.

“Murderers of Praveen Poojary should be brought to the book at the earliest. This incident is also a reminder that when you tie a beast in your backyard, it is bound to hound you one day too.

“The din over ‘Gau Raksha’ which had the tacit support of BJP has come as a wrath to itself. The self-appointed cow vigilantes who led a mob to lynch Akhlak in Dadri, UP, have now struck in Karnataka. However, this time it is a BJP worker in Karnataka, Praveen Poojari, who was lynched by yet another group of cow vigilantes,” Swaraj Abhiyan said in a statement.

It added that the BJP “drummed up” the issue of cow and beef to polarise elections in Bihar and repeated sloganeering in the name of “Holy Cow” was most of the time targeted at Dalits and Muslims.

“Though BJP lost elections in Bihar, yet the onslaught continued. Violent incidents were reported from other parts of the country too. Finally, the death of Praveen Poojary established that violence does not bear any sense direction. It is all pervading,” it added.