Cow Vigilantism & Mob Lynching: What is happening in India?
Cow slaughter has always been a sensitive issue in India with the cow being associated with Lord Krishna in Hinduism and finding support from other religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhs and also while being seen simply as a form of diet in Islam and Christianity.
In case of cow slaughter, state legislatures have the power to make laws as it is a State subject. In 2005 the Supreme Court of India upheld the validity of cow slaughter laws enacted by various States. Only Kerala, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim have not prohibited cow slaughter.
With the BJP coming to power in 2014, the cow slaughter issue has now also become political. Soon after in 2015, the Govt.’s of Maharashtra and Haryana extended the ‘cow’ slaughter ban to include other bovine animals as well. Haryana’s cow slaughter ban is stringent , non-bailable leading to imprisonment for upto 10 years with a fine of upto 1 lac. While Gujarat tops it all with its laws entailing a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. And with saffron clad CM Yogi Adityanath at the helm in UP, enough fodder has been provided for cow vigilantism to raise its ugly head.
Mohammed Aklhaq was the first victim; lynched by a mob in Dadri for consuming ‘cow meat’ on Eid….only to be known much later that it was not ‘cow’ meat !! After Dadri, mob lynching was also reported in Jharkhand. Bajrang Dal activists killed a man in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, and also attacked a Dalit family in Karnataka. Similar attacks on Dalits were made by gaurakshaks in Una Gujarat. Recently a Muslim youth, Junaid was killed on the train and his brothers injured in the name of beef possession and cattle transporters were attacked in Assam…… and these are only part of the official figures!
Stung by Muslim leader Owaisi’s “cow 'mummy' in UP, 'yummy' in Northeast” remark exposing the ‘beef 'hypocrisy’ and knowing that some states would simply not change their laws, the Central Govt. has cleverly under the garb of the ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017‘.have banned the sale and purchase of ‘cattle’ from animal markets for slaughter with immediate effect. The new rules define ‘cattle’ to include all bovine animals and camels too and states that the law only seeks to regulate sale of cattle in animal markets and not private sales…..but however is the death knell for abattoirs meat exporters and the leather trade as procuring cattle from individual farmers is an uphill task.
Also one wonders how ‘cruelty’ under the new law is equated only with cattle sold at animal farms and not privately and also why is ‘cruelty’ not associated with other animals like goats, pigs, sheep and fowl.
Sadly ‘Cow vigilantism’ today is a convenient and most ironically …..‘legal’ way to get away with murder and mayhem. Offering hope and voice on this issue is the citizens movement #NotInMyName which is gaining ground in India on the twin issues of beef ban and cow vigilantism and rallying citizens against the senseless killings of innocent people under the garb of ‘ gau raksha’ or cow protection. And while PM Modi pays lip service and releases, but only annual statements to the press on the issue, we hope the sensible Indian wakes up and takes the right stand.
Sources:
ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_slaughter_in_India
https://thewire.in/140593/gove...
ndiatoday.intoday.in/story/asaduddin-owaisi-beef-cow-slaughter-mummy-up-yummy-northeast/1/918044.html
