The RSS-BJP meeting comes after dalit protests in Gujarat were held against alleged cow protectors. (PTI)
Massive Dalit protests close to crucial state elections has galvanised both the BJP-led centre and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS into damage control.
On Tuesday, hours after the union home ministry sent out an advisory asking states to act firmly against cow vigilantism, the RSS, which is the BJP's ideological mentor, met senior leaders of the party who belong to Scheduled Castes or Other Backward Classes (OBC) to discuss strategy on how to reach out to Dalits.
Among those present at the RSS meeting at Gujarat Bhawan in Delhi were union minsters like Thevar Chand Gehlot and Arjun Meghwal, who were asked to make closer contact with the community.
On Tuesday evening, the government followed up Prime Minister Narendra Modi's repeated call for action against what he called "fake cow protectors" with an advisory which emphasised there must be zero tolerance towards those who break the law.
Killing cows and attacks on people in the name of cow protection are both crimes, the home ministry circular to states said.
"No person can, under any circumstances, take the law into their own hands. Any person, or persons, doing so have to be dealt with strictly under the relevant laws, and brought to justice in the quickest possible fashion, for the strictest punishment," the advisory said.
It also referred to a law that requires states to prevent cow slaughter, invoking Mahatma Gandhi, who said that the protection of the cow means protection of the helpless and weak.
Cow vigilantes have been accused of rampant attacks on people in the name of cow protection and opposition parties allege that they enjoy the patronage of the BJP and organisations affiliated to the RSS.
The BJP government in Gujarat, where elections will be held next year, has faced huge Dalit protests after cow vigilantes stripped and flogged four Dalit men in Una.
Calling for the protection of Dalits and other exploited sections, PM Modi said in a speech on the weekend, "If you have a problem, if you feel like attacking someone, attack me, not my Dalit brothers. If you want to shoot anyone, shoot me, not my Dalit brothers."
It followed speeches in which the Prime MInister had lashed out at cow vigilantism and advised states to act against them. "Be wary of '
nakli' (fake)
gau rakshaks, they have nothing to do with cow. Governments should crack down on them," he has said.
Before Gujarat, crucial assembly elections will be held in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, states where the Dalit and OBC vote can be decisive.