''The terror within''

Jagat · November 16, 2002

<h3>The terror within</h3>

By Vishavjit Singh

YellowTimes.org Guest Columnist (United States)

(YellowTimes.org) – I did not think I would be compelled so soon to write a sequel to my earlier article, "Nation of Bystanders," detailing the malaise that has swept large segments of Indian society in the face of brutal savagery like the rape of a young girl on a subway train in Mumbai in the presence of bystanders.

But the events that occurred on October 16th not too far from the capital of the world's most populous democracy would send chills down the spine of most humans, even the millions of "bystanders" around the Indian subcontinent and around the globe, thus compelling me to give testimony to these events.

Five young men in their twenties, belonging to the lower classes, the "untouchables," who among other unenviable tasks have for generations been consigned to the jobs of removing and processing animal carcasses, found themselves in the middle of a socio-cultural melee that would eventually cost them their lives.

Amid the din of many voices, details appeared sketchy at the beginning, but after a few days had passed by, certain facts have emerged. The five lower-caste men had been seen skinning a dead cow; there was nothing unusual about that. Millions of dead cows go through this process and the hides of many of those cows end up as part of our shoes, jackets, car seats etc.

Some religious fanatics had spread the rumor that lower caste men had skinned a cow alive. After hearing this, instead of sorting out the facts before taking action, a number of religious extremists in India reacted violently to the news. The cow, being a sacred presence in the pantheon of gods in the Hindu tradition, assumes a social presence as a revered object.

The tension in the street was palpable and the five young lower-caste men sought refuge in the local police station, hoping the police would find the truth of the matter and confirm the fact that they had skinned a dead cow. In no time, a crowd of a few thousand gathered in front of the police station, their fury whipped up by the religious extremists. The young men were dragged out of the police station in the presence of police officers, who, rather than preserving law and order, joined the ranks of the hundreds of bystanders as the five young men's bodies were mutilated, their eyes gouged out, and finally burned to death.

The police defended their inaction by citing the size of the crowd and the mounting fury in the street. They went along with the masses to keep from also becoming the victims of their rage.

As if the insanity had not reached its lowest point, the police ordered an autopsy - not of the human victims - but of the dead cow, to determine if the cow was dead or alive while being skinned by the five young men. The police wanted to determine if the crowd had a genuine reason behind their rage and subsequent acts of terror, the mob killing of five young men accused by the imaginary laws of extremists in India. The autopsy and ensuing investigation did confirm that the cow had been dead for 24 hours before being skinned and the lower-caste men had skinned it to prevent the rotting smell.

No arrests were made following this ghastly mob killing. The leaders of some of the Hindu extremist groups went as far as to say that the life of a cow was more valuable than five young men from the lower castes.

As usual, the perpetrators are at large; the federal government has called for an inquiry into the massacre; few voices in the media vented their anger at the ghastly acts; and life goes on to other important chapters of life: Bollywood, cross-border terrorism, the economy, and so on.

Udit Raj, the chairperson of the All-India Confederation of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes (terms used to refer to lower caste and tribal Indians), points to the fallacy of the logic of these perpetrators, the religious fanatics: "Even if assuming for a moment this were true (the skinning alive of a cow, the mother symbol), do you kill the children of five mothers in this manner for one cow? If they (religious fanatics) really believe the cow is their mother, how can they sell their own mother for Rs 200 when she gets old and stops giving milk? And why do they not cremate the cow themselves; why do they give her to the Dalits (the lower castes) to do what the son is supposed to do according to their religion? Conversion is the only solution for the Dalits if they want to have a life of dignity which is free of oppression and humiliation."

The family members of the victims have converted to Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity, hoping their lives would at least equal the value of a cow in their new religious faiths. Many people who chose Islam and Christianity rather than Buddhism are being harassed by Hindu extremists who do not wish their numbers to be thinned out as a result of feared religious terrorism.

While millions across India are being sensitized to cross-border terrorism, the growing sewage of home-grown terrorism is flooding the streets of cities and towns across the country, consuming innocent lives under the garb of nationalism and national security.

Cross-border terrorism and home grown terrorism have a lot in common, including their common end result, depriving India of its goal of national peace and prosperity. For over a billion unsuspecting Indians, the choice between the two is not a choice between safety and terror, just a choice between two different routes to death.

Religious terrorism has to be confronted head on in all its manifestations, whether it is packaged in an Islamic or in a Hindu veil. This unfortunate task faces not only those residing in South Asia but billions across the planet.

[Vishavjit Singh was raised in both India and the U.S. and has a Masters Degree in Public Health. He has a passion for writing about issues that reside mainly in the short term memory of most people, issues that should not be forgotten and which confront us as a global community to take action. He lives in the United States.]

Vishavjit Singh encourages your comments: vishavjit@

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