Continuing the approach of some BJP leaders in Rajasthan to stress the importance of cow protection amid outrage over the lynching of cattle traders, the president of the saffron party's state unit cited Mughal history to make his point.
BJP Rajasthan president Madan Lal Saini claimed, “When [Mughal emperor] Humayun was dying, he called [his father] Babur and told him if you want to rule Hindustan, you must keep three things in mind—respect cows, Brahmins and women.”
Saini appeared to have shockingly mixed up the history of Babur, the first Mughal emperor, and Humayun. Babur died in 1531, nearly 25 years before Humayun died in 1556.
The anecdote about Mughal respect for cow protection, which Saini mixed up, was also cited, correctly, by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in February.
Swamy had said, “Cow eating was not prevalent during the Mughal period. In 1857, Bahadur Shah declared a ban on cow slaughter. There is anecdotal information that Babur had told his son Humayun that as cows were a sentimental issue, there should not be any slaughter.”
Swamy alleged it was the British who overturned Mughal rules and made cow slaughter “fashionable”.
Saini's statement comes days after a Muslim man was fatally assaulted by a mob on suspicion of cow smuggling in Alwar. Despite the outrage over the incident, Rajasthan Labour Minister Jaswant Yadav on Tuesday argued the “root cause” of such incidents was cow smuggling and asked Muslims and the Mev community to "Stop consuming beef and keep away from cow smugglers to respect the Hindus."
(With ANI inputs)