Media , remove "beef" from ‪#‎dadrilynching‬ story please!

I just read a column by Suhel Seth and was quite impressed. The message is quite clear media needs to be responsible. He puts it very mildly while actually this is quite serious. Media creates perceptions and can fuel hatred and anger. Yesterday I read an article by Atish Taseer on similar issue, however he remained in his elitist journalism and illusion. He seemed to be away from ground reality and part of coterie who is flaming the issue.

So whythere is such a sudden outburst of hatred in India? Is it that this started after Modi came to power? Is this his agenda? Is it that our country is so bad that seldom there is good news on front page? Why the sahitya akademi awards never on front page when they are awarded but are very conveniently used on the cover when returned? Why suddenly corruption disappeared from the news and communalism is rampant? If communalism is so rampant then why am I not afraid when I go out of my home? Why a newspaper conveniently stops covering a story regarding malpractices of an education institute after getting jacket advertisements? Is the money only reason to run media business? Where is the truth , honesty, transparency and more importantly news?

I am writing this as something inside me clicked because of the same news being fed to me everyday. I tried to invoke my past to understand why is cow so holy! My memories took me to my childhood, era of black and white pictures, times of my grandmother, and my first steps with religion. Let me make myself very clear, am not a hardcore religious person. I am very moderate. But what I am today is because of the religious teachings I got from my grandmother and parents. I once tweeted " if you make goodness the supreme motive in life, religion would have achieved its purpose irrespective of which community you belong". Every religion teaches goodness but once you mature the logical reasoning gets stronger. And you may start questioning the religious rituals but the goodness you have been taught will always remain. Getting back to cow.

We lived in Delhi and had a Cow at home before I was born. I was surprised when my mother later told me. How could we have a cow at home when our home itself was small. It was part of the family and very well taken care of. Grandmother milked the cow everyday and it was pure milk they drank. From its dung the cakes were made which were used as fuel for cooking food. As the neighborhood prospered people started nudging grandma to send off the cow which eventually happened. Inconsolable grandma complied. Whenever chapatis were made, the first ones were always for the cow. That was the reverence. Even after sending the cow, the ritual continued and the chapatis were fed to the cows outside on the roads. This ritual was so strong that despite being very hungry I had to wait for the third chapati from the tawa. All the kids in the house including myself used to feed the cows outside. Now that cows have disappeared from the streets , there are organisations who collect gau-gras from homes and feed cows.My grandma used to do lot of charity with whatever she had at the moment. She gave alot in gau-daan on every occasion which was celebrated at home. They tell me as a kid I used to tell her "when I will start earning , I will keep all the money on top of almirah". Frowning she would ask why, I would reply "otherwise you will give all the money away !". Cow had been very sacred for me during my growing up years. Over the years though perspectives have changed, circumstances have changed. No matter how much I am against killing an animal , I cannot impose myself on others. Nor does the cow belongs to me which is being murdered. That's logical me.

But sentiments for majority of Hindus are attached to this sacred animal. Most of them are moderates like me. The present generation would be oblivious to holiness of cow. So who are these people who actually are involved in these stray incidents. These are the fringe groups which have been present since long. Not that they are born today. So why are they being given so much importance now? Should not these be issues to be dealt by only policemen? Or politicians have to get involved? And to make matters worse Media is working relentlessly to keep the issue burning and daily adding fuel to it. Just because of the front page news I read everyday I got so emotional that I am writing about it. If a moderate like me can get emotional , it's scary to think what fringe people with leanings toward right might do?

Media, let this be a lynching issue , leave out beef, and let justice take its own course. By not doing this you are benefiting yourself, fringe and politicians. Not the common man.