PM’s previous silence severely criticised
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has criticised vigilantes who portray themselves as protectors of cows – an animal considered sacred by Hindus.
Modi, a Hindu nationalist, said such people made him “angry”, and any such attacks must be investigated.
He had been criticised for saying nothing about a public flogging last month of low-caste men by vigilantes.The self-styled cow defenders accused the four men from the Dalit caste of harming cattle.
The victims insisted they were taking a cow’s carcass for skinning, as was their tradition.
Also in July, two Muslim women were beaten up by vigilantes over accusations that they had been carrying beef.
Speaking in Delhi, Modi said he would ask state governments across India to investigate anyone linked to such vigilante attacks.
He said he believed “70-80% of them will turn out to be people who are involved in anti-social activities and masquerade as cow protectors to save themselves”.
Up to now, some commentators believed Modi was staying quiet on the issue of vigilantes so he could maintain his appeal among Hindu nationalist voters.
Modi was similarly criticised last year when he took two weeks to condemn the lynching of a Muslim man over rumours he had stored and consumed beef.
The slaughter of cows is banned in several Indian states.
But the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government has come under increasing pressure from Hindu hardliners to do more to protect cows.
The majority of India’s estimated 1.2 billion population is Hindu. However the country is also home to large Muslim, Christian and Buddhist minorities.
Meanwhile, in Jaipur, PCC President Sachin Pilot has accused the BJP government of being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of cows in the state-run Hingonia cow shelter here.
“The BJP government has totally failed in taking care of cows. The situation in the Hingonia gaushala is very grim but the government has totally ignored this sensitive issue,” Pilot told reporters.
“Gaushalas are suffering in the BJP rule…It comes to power on riding people’s sentiments attached to cows but later forgets them,” he said at the PCC after visiting the Hingonia cow shelter.
He said Modi should have given the statement against cow vigilantes two years back so that the incidents which have happened in the name of cow protection could have been stopped from taking place.
“The PM needs to ensure that those who take the law in their own hands are strictly dealt with,” he said.
The Raje government has been criticised by Congress, VHP, and Bajrang Dal over the death of cows.
Congress alleged that 100 cows had died due to “mismanagement and lack of facilities” at the gaushala while VHP claimed that more than 500 cows died due to the “inhuman behaviour” of the Raje government towards them.
