Childhood is often difficult to grow out of. What seems to be emerging as the top theme in Indian politics can be recalled by most Indian adults as a routine topic of early essay-writing practice: the cow. Politicians of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its brothers in arms, as well as those adhering to their dreams, constructed histories and something they label 'ideology' have not outgrown the early concentration on the cow. The devotion to the bovine cause has grown in intensity since the BJP's ascension in Delhi in 2014; it has spawned rampaging tribes of goons anointed gau rakshaks, who beat and kill people in order to 'protect' the cow, and get away, unchecked either by the law or by the administration. The BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have honed to a fine art the politicians' strategy of doublespeak: invoke the law after outlawing what is normal food and trade for certain segments of the population, then target those segments while deploring lawlessness, and allow goons their violence because they are devotees of the holy cow, just over-enthusiastic about helping law-keepers. The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh excels in this kind of multiple-speak.

The RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, is more direct. He has condemned the death of the dairy farmer in Alwar, caused by the gau rakshaks' holy ire and has said that such violence does the great cause ill service. At the same time Mr Bhagwat wants a countrywide law to ban cow slaughter. Perhaps the full impact of this, in case it is not clear yet, is suggested by the fact that in the incident at Alwar, the one man in the assaulted group who was let off was from the majority community. Apart from the scandalous violation of rights a countrywide law against cow slaughter would entail (it is already a part of life in the states which have banned it) the consequences of the law would affect various spheres that the government should actually think about. The leather and meat industries would be obvious losers. Can India afford this loss in export? Ironically, dairy products would lose out too, for people would be terrified of keeping cows in case they got beaten up, killed or jailed. Cows, however holy the BJP-RSS project them to be, are not immortal. They die. Even a natural death can easily be blamed on the owner if he is not of a desirable group, for the goons and the law would all be ranged on one side.