Dadri victim Akhlaq made loose comments on cow, provoked attack, says Manohar Lal Khattar

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Muslims could live in India but should give up eating beef, says Haryana CM Khattar

October 16, 2015, NewsCrunch

Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar said on Thursday that Dadri lynching victim Akhlaq had made a loose comment about the cow, which hurt the sentiments of people, and led to the subsequent attack on him.

After Akhlaq was lynched at Dadri, a North Delhi village, on the allegation that he ate beef, a national outrage followed forcing even PM Modi to condemn it.

But speaking to Indian Express Khattar sought to distribute the blame evenly.  “It should not have happened – from both sides,” he reportedly said.

However, he said the murder was wrong and those responsible for it should be  prosecuted under the law.
In the same interview, Khattar said Muslims could live in India but should give up eating beef. Killing of cows hurt Hindus sentiments and freedom in a democracy comes with the limitation of not having to hurt another person, he pointed out.
Khattar, a first-time MLA was a low profile RSS leader, till BJP decided to make him the CM of Haryana. His government has made cow slaughter an offense punishable with a 10-year jail term. Even eating beef in Haryana can land an offender in prison for five years.
His government has also launched an ambitious project to excavate the mythological Saraswati river in Haryana.

Last month, Khattar had stoked another controversy when he called upon Muslims to refrain from slaughtering animals during Eid.

Addressing a function organised at Ferozepur by Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), he had said: “You are the descendants of the state’s biggest cattle breeders so I call upon you to wash off the blot of being cow killers. I urge all of you to abstain from sacrificing animals during the forthcoming Bakr Id.”

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