In a bizarre incident three persons arrested for cow slaughter in Madhya Pradesh have been charged under the National Security Act (NSA). They have also been booked under relevant sections of the Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act. The NSA is usually applied to detain those suspects who threaten the country’s security. Therefore the move of MP government to book the persons accused of cow slaughter under NSA is deeply disturbing development. This is the first incident after Congress government came to power in the state in which the police have charged the accused in cow slaughter under the NSA.
The act empowers the government to detain people for up to a year if they suspect that they could disrupt public order, endanger the security of India or its ties with foreign countries. The decision to book three persons under harsh NSA is highly condemnable. The Congress party is pushing for soft Hindutva by misusing this draconian act. They are playing with fire by succumbing to the Hindu hardliners. The Congress president Rahul Gandhi in various forums has been espousing the liberal ideas. The party has always harped about following the Nehruvian ideology which talks of inclusive India. But action of their government in Madhya Pradesh is just opposite of what they preach in public. They have no morale rights to accuse BJP of promoting right wing ideology when Congress itself is behaving like a right wing party.