New Delhi: 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.
Killing cows and attacks on people in the name of cow protection are both crimes, the home ministry circular to states 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.
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.
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.
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.
Killing cows and attacks on people in the name of cow protection are both crimes, the home ministry circular to states said.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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