Yet, there are clear examples that the BJP is no longer averse to allowing beef being eaten not only by Muslims, but by Hindus and others as well. Since it is only in the last few weeks that the change has taken place, the broadening of outlook must have been the result of some kind of a trigger.

It cannot be said for certain whether the Dadri lynching is the catalyst. But, whatever the activating cause, the transformation is real enough. The first indication of the new line was Union home minister Rajnath Singh’s declaration that a nationwide ban on beef would not be imposed. Then, defence minister Manohar Parrikar said that the matter was one of “individual opinion” since what one ate was one’s own choice.

After that, the chief of the BJP’s Kerala unit, V. Muraleedharan, said that his party had “no intention to regulate the food habits of people and, therefore, we have no intention to protest against people eating beef”. However, one of the most significant observations was by the veteran BJP leader, Kalraj Mishra, who is also a Union minister, that “if people eat beef, how can you stop them?”.

The BJP’s ally, Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena, has also intervened in the debate by advising his senior partner in Maharashtra to “stop peeping into homes to find out if people eat beef. Let people eat whatever they want. It’s ghastly to kill people because they consume beef”.

Thackeray may be playing his own political games with the BJP by taking a stance, which will be seen by the chatterati as more liberal-minded than the attitude of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who has banned beef in the state. How the vigilante groups allied to the Sangh Parivar will respond to the remarks of Thackeray, Parrikar and others is not known. But, what is obvious is that today’s BJP is not the party of the 1990s when its defining characteristic was an aggressive anti-minority worldview.

However, it was the period in power at the centre between 1998 and 2004 which saw the first signs of moderation when Muslims were no longer castigated as “Babur kiaulad” to underline their alien nature. However, the fact that the Muslims remained the party’s bête noire was evident from Narendra Modi’s acerbic description of their disregard for family planning norms via his coining of the slogan, “hum panch, hamare pachis” (we five – husband and four wives – and our 25).

Even if Modi’s subsequent sadbhavna or goodwill fasts in Gujarat showed that he was putting on a kinder, gentler face to prepare for a national role, the reference to the “pink revolution” in one of the speeches prior to the general election last year pointed to his objections to cow slaughter and the export of beef.

This was the standard saffron line in keeping with its other obsessions – Ram Temple, uniform civil code and Article 370 although for some strange reason, the “nefarious” activities of Christian missionaries were no longer highlighted even if there were a series of attacks on churches till Modi asked the Delhi police commissioner to stop them. Perhaps the Christians were spared in the context of the prime minister’s foreign tours.

The beef issue came to the fore in the aftermath of the bans on consumption in Maharashtra and Haryana and the drive for vegetarianism favoured by ministers like Mahesh Sharma who wanted the prohibition to include all meats during Hindu and Jain festivals.

It is possible that the restive saffron militants, who had been straining at the leash because of the apparent restrictions imposed on their gharwapsi and love jehad campaigns, saw an opportunity in the promotion of vegetarianism to target meat-eaters. Hence, the Dadri lynching.

Notwithstanding efforts by the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, and others to dismiss the tragedy as a small incident, the murder has acquired a larger-than-life aura not only because it underlines a deteriorating law and order situation, but also because it emphasizes the simmering hate which guides a section of those close to the BJP. More than anything else, it is the presence of these rabid elements in close proximity to the ruling party which casts a dark shadow on the prime minister’s modernistic ideas.

Unless this violent fringe is controlled, any more “rock star” receptions for Modi abroad will seem like a mockery. It is perhaps this possibility which has compelled the BJP to backtrack. In doing so, its ties with the RSS, VHP and others must have been strained. But, the party is apparently willing to take the risk since it knows that the Parivar will not be reckless enough to undercut Modi since he remains their only hope of retaining their hold on India.

While bolstering Modi, however, the BJP will be rewriting the entire Hindutva philosophy by bringing it in line with the country’s multicultural ethos. (IPA Service)