Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is a generous man, especially when it comes to Muslims. Many of his compatriots from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh may not even acknowledge that Muslims have a right to stay in India, but Khattar is more forgiving. In an Indian Express interview, Khattar made it clear that Muslims "can stay" in the country, but only if they follow some rules: "Muslims can continue to live in this country, but they will have to give up eating beef."

That's what it has come to. A reminder: It would be just about impossible for the BJP to claim this is a fringe point of view, unless the party insists Khattar resign right away and apologises for not realising how bigoted he was. Otherwise we are talking about the chief minister of a state, a man who has worked closely with and was picked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lead Haryana. If this is fringe, there is no mainstream BJP.

(Listen from 2:50 onward)


Here are the exact words used by Khattar, who is about to complete one year as chief minister of Haryana, according to the Indian Express report on their interview, which the Haryana chief minister's office has now denied, claiming he only said "we should respect everyone."
“Muslim rahein, magar is desh mein beef khaana chhodna hi hoga unko. Yahan ki manyata hai gau (Muslims can continue to live in this country, but they will have to give up eating beef. The cow is an article of faith here)."

Evidently anyone who is unwilling to go by what Khattar declares as manyata, is not allowed to remain in the country. The statement also happens to have emerged on the same day as phase II of elections in Bihar, where beef has been one of the contentious issues.

The chief minister didn't make things better through the rest of his interview. Instead of calling the Dadri lynching what it is – a murder – he spread the canard, which was also used by BJP leaders who spoke up right after the incident, that it was a "misunderstanding."

Worse he also insisted that both sides, which is to say the murderous mob as well as the man who was allegedly killed by that murderous mob, had the same amount of culpability. "It should not have happened – from both sides," Khattar told the Express, adding that the victim had made a "halki tippani [loose comment] about the cow which hurt the sentiments of people who subsequently attacked him".

Again, in a display of his generosity, Khattar acknowledged that attacking and killing someone is wrong, but said that the mob was faced with feelings similar to that of a man seeing his mother killed or sister molested.

It's important to underline what the chief minister of a state, the man responsible for law and order and the welfare of the citizens, is saying here: That a stray comment about the cow is equivalent to a violent, heinous crime of murder and molestation, which would then justify a lynch mob.


This also comes soon after Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, with Khattar-level generosity, appreciated a Muslim's ability to be patriotic in India. And of course, who could ignore the drumbeat of go-to-Pakistan and ramzaada-haramzaada comments that have emerged from the BJP and its ideological affiliates over the course of the last year, all of which should turn into a reasonably long checklist for Muslims to tick off now, if they want to remain in this country anymore.

Fortunately, not everyone thinks so.