On a chilly morning in January, a car carrying three young Muslim men collided with a van in Tauru, Haryana. The incident resulted in the death of one man and the arrest of another on charges of cow smuggling. Shaukeen, who was also in the car, alleges that his friend Waris was beaten to death by a group of Hindu men after they spotted a cow trussed up in the back of the car.
As reported by the BBC, these are Hindu men, armed with sticks and other weapons, who keep watch for vehicles transporting cattle to prevent cow slaughter, which is illegal in many Indian states. Police arrested Nafiz and Shaukeen on cow smuggling charges because they “found a cow in the car,” according to Varun Singla, superintendent of police in Haryana’s Nuh district, where Tauru is located.
However, Shaukeen claims that their car hit the van only because they were being chased by a vehicle belonging to the cow vigilantes. CCTV footage shows a four-by-four with a siren on its roof approaching the car moments after the accident. Then, according to a video filmed by a local man who was at the spot, a group of men who appeared to be armed with weapons, including guns, pulled out the cow from the car’s boot and bundled the three Muslim men into the four-by-four.
Shaukeen alleges he and his companions were then beaten up by the gang, who later took them to hospital and that Waris died on the way. “Waris did not die in the accident. There was not a single injury from the crash,” he says, adding that it was a “targeted killing” against Muslims.
The cow is worshipped by millions of Hindus, who are the majority of India’s population. While cow slaughter was already a sensitive topic and banned in some states, it has become a hotly debated issue since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power nationally in 2014.
Cow vigilante groups have been accused of enforcing this ban through violence, often leading to assaults and even lynchings of mostly Muslim meat sellers and cattle traders. Mr Modi has criticised these groups in the past but several high-profile assaults have occurred even after that.
At Waris’s home in Nuh, his family is still grappling with the shock of his death. “If someone is committing a crime, any crime, the police should punish them,” says Imran, Waris’ elder brother. He questions why vigilante groups in the state were “given the right to take the law into their own hands.”
Who are Gau Rakshaks?
Gau rakshaks are Hindu men who keep watch for vehicles transporting cattle to prevent cow slaughter, which is illegal in many Indian states. They are known for using violence to enforce this ban, often leading to assaults and even lynchings of mostly Muslim meat sellers and cattle traders.
The Cow Slaughter Ban
The cow is worshipped by millions of Hindus, who are the majority of India’s population. While cow slaughter was already a sensitive topic and banned in some states, it has become a hotly debated issue since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power nationally in 2014. Sale and consumption of beef is now illegal in about two-thirds of India’s 28 states, most of them governed by the BJP, including Haryana.
Cow Vigilantes Accused of Violence
Cow vigilante groups have been accused of enforcing the cow slaughter ban through violence, often leading to assaults and even lynchings of mostly Muslim meat sellers and cattle traders. Mr Modi has criticised these groups in the past but several high-profile assaults have occurred even after that.
Meanwhile, according to another report by the BBC, “Indian trains ran over more than 13,000 cattle in 2022 according to data released by the government”.
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