A local farmers group has filed a case against cow vigilantes in Hisar, Haryana alleging that saving cows is only a guise and the reality behind this is an extortion bid. Some farmers staged a dharna in front of Hisar Sadar police station alleging that cow vigilantes cornered them and asked for protection money from them, reported The Times of India. The farmers have thus demanded that this cow protection force be disbanded as they are mere hooligans practicing Gau Raksha as a farce. No FIR has yet been registered.
Sandeep Siwach, state General Secretary of Pagdi Sambhal Jatta Kisan Sangharsh Samiti told TOI that farmers from Mochiwala village were taking their bulls to Nagaur when some persons stopped their vehicle and demanded protection money.
A similar revelation was made in March by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and had demanded action against these cow vigilantes, in the background of the murder of Junaid and Nasir from Rajasthan who were burnt to death allegedly by cow vigilantes on suspicion of cow slaughter. “It is unfortunate that meetings are being organised in support of those who are accused of killing Rajasthan youths Junaid and Nasir in Bhiwani. Such a meeting was held in Jind two days ago, and similar meetings have been held in Kaithal and Gurugram also,” said the leaders as reported by The Tribune. A letter was sent to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Hisar and a joint memorandum to the President demanding disbanding of the Cow Protection Task Force was also sent.
In February, The Tribune had reported that a peek inside the network of cow vigilantes revealed that there’s a loosely knit ‘force’ of about 20,000 youths with affiliation to mainly three outfits — Bajrang Dal, Goputra Sena Haryana and Goraksha Dal – which are active as cow vigilantes and are mostly unemployed youth. Rashtriya Sangathan Mahamantri of Goputra Sena Haryana Sunil Krantikari said they issued ID cards to their activists and also admitted that sometimes there were people who got themselves enrolled for the sake of procuring the ID cards just to cross the toll plazas without paying tax or to get the arms licence.
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