For Pastures New
FRONTLINE|November 10, 2017

Sant Gopal Das takes on the Haryana government for failing to protect cows and to keep its promise to provide grazing land.

T.K.Rajalakshmi
For Pastures New

THE BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY (BJP) IN Haryana has been extremely enthusiastic in making promises on matters bovine. One of the commitments the party made in the run-up to the Assembly elections in 2016 was about developing grazing lands with government grants in order to protect cows. Other promises included a world-class cow research centre and a milk revolution in the State. The punishment for cow slaughter would be the same as that for manslaughter, said BJP State president Ram Vilas Sharma while releasing the party’s manifesto.

One animal activist-cum-conservationist from the State is determined to remind the BJP repeatedly of its promises. For over four years, Gopal Das from Panipat, who has the prefix “sant” or saint to his name, has been waging a relentless campaign to restore common grazing lands, which, he said, was the most non-violent way of protecting the bovine species. Since June 2, he has been on a hunger strike protesting against the BJP’s apathy towards cow protection. He has been arrested time and again and shifted to hospitals in and outside the State.

But on August 3, he and his supporters did the unthinkable: they placed a dead bull at the venue of a meeting in Rohtak that was being chaired by BJP national president Amit Shah. Incarcerated since then, Gopal Das seems unflappable. “That was the only way I could highlight the problem of stray animals that were falling prey to road accidents. They had me arrested,” he told Frontline from his bed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.

Denne historien er fra November 10, 2017-utgaven av FRONTLINE.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra November 10, 2017-utgaven av FRONTLINE.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA FRONTLINESe alt
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
FRONTLINE

How Not To Handle An Epidemic

The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.

time-read
9 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Tragedy on foot
FRONTLINE

Tragedy on foot

As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020
Sarpanchs as game changers
FRONTLINE

Sarpanchs as game changers

Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

time-read
7 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Scapegoating China
FRONTLINE

Scapegoating China

As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.

time-read
10 mins  |
June 5, 2020
New worries
FRONTLINE

New worries

Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.

time-read
9 mins  |
June 5, 2020
FRONTLINE

No love lost for labour

Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.

time-read
8 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Capital's Malthusian moment
FRONTLINE

Capital's Malthusian moment

In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020
Understanding migration
FRONTLINE

Understanding migration

When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.

time-read
10 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
FRONTLINE

Waiting for Jabalpur moment

The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020
An empty package
FRONTLINE

An empty package

The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020