‘Gaumutra drinker’ has, in recent years, become a slur for anybody who identifies himself as a Hindu. The Leftists and the Islamists began to use it first — as a slur for ‘Internet Hindus’. Now, those who call themselves as liberals, but almost always stand on the same side of issues as the Leftists and the Islamists, use it liberally to mock their ideological opponents or simply as a joke.

That the phrase is loaded with Hindu hate became obvious when 19-year-old Adil Ahmad Dar, member of a jihadi group Jaish-e-Mohammad, killed around 50 jawans last year. The suicide attack was preceded by Dar’s recorded message for Muslims where he called upon them to similarly rise up for jihad.

It was not in uncouth ‘cow urine drinkers’ to break their chain of jihad, said Dar.

Days after the terrorist attack, a Pakistani minister repeated Dar’s gaumutra jibe in a hate speech against Hindus and India.

Fayaz-ul-Hasan Chohan was heard clearly saying in a speech, “O cow urine drinkers, we are Muslims. We are under the banner of valour of the likes of Maula Ali's and Shaheed-e-Karbala Hussein Ibn-e-Sali, you are not. Don't live in the belief that you are seven times our size as you don't have what we do. O idol worshippers, you cannot have the valour we do.”

Far from dropping it, the Leftist-Islamist-Liberal groups have made the gaumutra slur their favourite comeback for Hindus and Hindu supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In the ongoing lockdown over the Coronavirus pandemic scare, a slur that is in vogue however is ‘Go watch Ramayana’.

‘Go watch Ramayana’ is the new ‘Go drink Gaumutra’, even if it is temporarily so.

Its use follows a spate of hate messages against the Centre’s decision to re-telecast Ramanand Sagar-directed iconic television series ‘Ramayan’ on Doordarshan, based on the epic Indian text, during the 21-day lockdown. The series “planted the seed of Babri demolition”, several users claimed.

For instance, Ladeeda Farzana, an Islamist who was hailed as a ‘Jamia shero’ by journalist Barkha Dutt before she deleted her past posts following outrage, wrote in a Facebook post, “From tomorrow Doordarshan is going to be re-broadcasting Ramayanam serial to entertain the masses during this lock down. The bringing back of a narrative that spurred on Hindu nationalists and planted the seed for the demolition of Babari Masjid is a certain indicator that surely we will soon have bigger things than Corona virus to worry about.”

Now, on social media platforms, the Leftist-Islamist-Liberal groups are ridiculing Hindus and BJP supporters by asking them to watch Ramayana.

Read these posts, for instance: