November 2024 witnessed a spate of cow vigilantism cases across North India, particularly in the state of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab, each marked by its own brutality and disregard for legal norms. From public harassment and assaults to deaths in custody, these incidents underscore a grim pattern of targeted violence. The details of these incidents are provided below:

Cow vigilantism across states

Haryana

1. Location: Mohra, Ambala

Date: November 12

In Ambala’s Mohra village, the Gau Raksha Dal, led by national president Satish Kumar, stopped a truck carrying cattle. Assisted by local police, the vigilantes accused the Muslim drivers of smuggling cows for slaughter. Despite the absence of evidence, the vigilantes verbally abused and humiliated the drivers, hurling communal slurs. As per social media posts, eyewitnesses described how the group took over the investigation, dictating terms to the passive police officers. This incident is emblematic of how cow vigilantes exploit the legal machinery to legitimise their actions while targeting minorities.

2. Location: Nuh

Date: November 24

In Nuh, members of the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal and Gau Raksha Dal intercepted a truck transporting cattle, claiming the animals were being smuggled for slaughter. The drivers were assaulted and publicly humiliated, with videos of the incident shared online to further intimidate the community. The lack of police action against the vigilantes highlights a troubling trend of selective enforcement, where victims are criminalised while perpetrators enjoy impunity.

Uttar Pradesh

1. Location: Chhutmalpur, Saharanpur

Date: November 19

A chilling incident occurred in Saharanpur’s Chhutmalpur, where members of the Gau Raksha Dal surrounded a Muslim woman found carrying meat. Without evidence, they accused her of possessing beef from an illegally slaughtered cow. The woman was publicly harassed, subjected to communal abuse, and forced to defend herself against baseless allegations. Such actions highlight how cow vigilantism often takes a gendered form, with women facing disproportionate humiliation.

2. Location: Vrindavan

Date: November 22

In Vrindavan, Gau Raksha Dal members intercepted a truck carrying cattle. The vigilantes assaulted the drivers, accusing them of illegal cow slaughter. The group filmed the attack and shared it online, using it as a propaganda tool to showcase their actions as a form of moral policing. Witnesses reported that the victims were left bleeding and traumatised while the police arrived only after the situation had escalated.

3. Location: Jaunpur

Date: November 22

One of the most harrowing incidents unfolded in Jaunpur, where a Muslim man allegedly died in police custody. The police alleged he was a cow smuggler and claimed he was shot during an encounter. However, the victim’s family provided a starkly different account: they stated he was detained while drinking tea at a market and later taken to a remote location, where he was tortured and shot in the leg. The family reported severe injuries, including chest trauma and bleeding from his nose and ears. This incident not only exposes the nexus between law enforcement and cow vigilantism but also raises questions about the misuse of encounter killings to target marginalised groups.

4. Location: Ghaziabad

Date: November 22

In Ghaziabad, members of the Mahadev Seva Sangh assaulted two truck drivers transporting cattle. The vigilantes accused them of cow smuggling and subjected them to a brutal beating. The victims were handed over to the police, who focused on questioning the drivers while ignoring the violence perpetrated by the vigilantes. This selective approach underscores the complicity of law enforcement in enabling mob violence.

5. Location: Mathura

Date: November 26

In Mathura, members of the Gau Raksha Dal, led by Sonu Hindu Palwal, attacked a truck driver transporting cattle, accusing him of illegal slaughter. The vigilantes also claimed that someone accompanying the driver fired a gun at them, but the alleged shooter escaped. The truck driver, visibly injured, was detained by the police. Witnesses reported that the vigilantes acted with a sense of impunity, knowing they would face no legal consequences for their actions.

Punjab

1. Location: Rajpura, Patiala

Date: November 25

In Rajpura, members of the Gau Raksha Dal, under Satish Kumar’s leadership, stopped and harassed three men, accusing them of being cow thieves. The vigilantes verbally abused the victims and threatened them with violence. Despite the lack of evidence, the group claimed to have acted in the interest of cow protection, highlighting how such vigilantes often operate without any legal basis.

Cow vigilantism: Systemic failures, communal targeting, and the role of social media

Cow vigilantism in India reflects a troubling intersection of systemic failures, communal biases, and the misuse of digital platforms. The recurring incidents highlight a disturbing pattern of complicity between law enforcement and vigilante groups. Police inaction—or, at times, active participation—not only enables these groups to function as parallel judicial systems but also legitimises their unlawful activities. The lack of accountability ensures that vigilantes operate with impunity, often using violence as a tool to assert dominance and intimidate vulnerable communities. This breakdown in the rule of law emboldens such groups to act as self-appointed enforcers of morality and legality.

A consistent and deeply concerning feature of cow vigilantism is the targeted harassment of Muslims and Dalits. These incidents are far from isolated; they form part of a broader narrative of communal polarisation, where the guise of cow protection is weaponised to criminalise and marginalise minority communities. The misuse of cow protection laws serves to legitimise these actions, creating a climate of fear and exclusion that exacerbates social tensions. Victims are often publicly humiliated, assaulted, or worse, killed, while perpetrators frequently face little to no legal repercussions. The societal impact of this targeting is profound, fostering mistrust and deepening communal divides in an already polarised environment.

Adding to the menace is the role of social media, which has become a powerful tool for amplifying cow vigilantism. Vigilante groups often document their actions—sometimes live-streaming assaults or sharing videos of violence—and circulate them online as propaganda. This digital spectacle not only normalises such behaviour but also desensitises the public to its brutality. By turning acts of violence into a form of communal performance, social media reinforces toxic narratives that encourage copycat incidents. The weaponisation of these platforms ensures that the reach and influence of vigilantes extend far beyond the immediate victims, further polarising society and stoking communal tensions.

The convergence of these factors—systemic failures, targeted communal violence, and the weaponisation of social media—has turned cow vigilantism into a potent threat to India’s constitutional values. It exposes weaknesses in law enforcement, highlights the misuse of religious sentiments for political gain, and demonstrates the alarming ease with which hate can be propagated in the digital age. Addressing this issue requires not only legal and institutional reforms but also a societal reckoning with the underlying prejudices and divisions that fuel such acts. Without decisive action, cow vigilantism will continue to erode the principles of justice, equality, and humanity that are fundamental to India’s democratic fabric.

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The post Spate of cow vigilantism in November 2024: Brutal assaults and legal impunity across North India appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The following six incidents, escalating in severity, provide a chilling reflection of this growing menace.

 Details of the incidents

1. Lakhisarai, Bihar – October 15, 2024

In the first incident, members of the Bajrang Dal intercepted a pick-up truck that happened to be transporting cattle. Without any evidence, they accused the drivers of smuggling cattle to Bangladesh, a common and baseless allegation leveraged by vigilantes across the country. The drivers faced harassment and intimidation before being handed over to the police. This incident exemplifies how vigilante groups don the garb of stormtroopers,  taking the law into their own hands. Despite the lack of evidence for their claims, the Bajrang Dal members have faced no consequences for their actions, highlighting the growing normalisation of such behaviour. Worse regimes in power with the same ideology allow such violence unchecked.

 

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2. Surajgarha, Lakhisarai, Bihar – October 16, 2024

Just a day later, in the same district, Bajrang Dal members once again resorted to violence. Truck drivers transporting buffaloes near a police station were assaulted and robbed by the vigilantes. They reported that their money and mobile phones were stolen during the attack. The fact that this assault occurred so close to law enforcement underscores a disturbing trend: even in the presence of police, cow vigilantes feel empowered to act violently, reflecting a serious breakdown of law and order.

 

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3. Kaliabar, Assam – October 16, 2024

On the same day in Assam, four Muslim drivers were attacked by locals who accused them of being ‘cow thieves’. Despite having receipts for the cows purchased from local markets, the drivers faced assault and were later handed over to the police. The disregard for legal documentation and the swift resort to violence not only reflects the vigilantes’ sense of entitlement but also raises serious concerns about the accountability of local law enforcement, which failed to protect the victims or investigate the accusations thoroughly.

4. Renukoot, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh – October 18, 2024

In Renukoot, members of a right-wing group apprehended two men, accusing them of transporting beef. Once again, the victims were handed over to the police without any due process. This incident is illustrative of a broader pattern where mere allegations are sufficient for vigilantes to act violently against individuals from minority communities, disregarding their rights and legal protections. Such incidents not only undermine individual liberties but also perpetuate communal tensions across regions.

5. Karnal, Haryana – October 20, 2024

Bajrang Dal members in Karnal stopped a truck they falsely accused of smuggling cows and called the police. Upon investigation, police found the truck had all necessary documentation, and there were no illegal activities occurring. In this rare instance, police warned the Bajrang Dal members to differentiate between truth and falsehood. However, this kind of police action remains an exception; the consistent failure of law enforcement to challenge the actions of vigilante groups raises significant concerns about their complicity in such incidents.

6. Mhasane, Parner Taluka, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra – October 20, 2024

The most brutal of the six incidents occurred in Maharashtra, where a group of cow vigilantes apprehended two Muslim cattle traders. In a shocking display of violence, the traders were stripped, brutally beaten, and publicly humiliated before being handed over to the police. Their vehicle was vandalised, and the 52 cattle they were transporting were seized and sent to a local gaushala (cow shelter). This incident starkly illustrates the extent of violence that cow vigilantes are willing to inflict, showcasing a deep-seated culture of dehumanisation and targeting of minorities under the pretext of cow protection.

The emerging pattern: Vigilantism and impunity

These six incidents are not isolated; they represent a growing trend across India where cow protection has become a convenient pretext for targeting minorities, particularly Muslims. The attackers in these incidents are frequently linked to right-wing groups like the Bajrang Dal, which, under the banner of cow protection, have unleashed violence with little fear of prosecution.

BJP governments in power in the state and centre have allowed such targeted violence, unchecked. The political opposition is reluctant to raise these issues with the rigour they deserve.

What is deeply troubling is the apparent complicity of law enforcement in many of these cases. Instead of upholding the law, police forces either allow vigilante groups to act with impunity or, worse, enable them by handing over innocent people to the police after assaulting them. In cases like those in Karnal and Kaliabar, where documentation proved that no wrongdoing occurred, the vigilantes still faced no legal consequences. This emboldens such groups to continue their illegal activities, fostering a climate of fear and violence.

Despite the rising number of such incidents, there has been little to no action taken against the perpetrators. The government’s silence, coupled with the police’s reluctance to act, signals a worrying acceptance or endorsement of these violent acts. There has been no strong condemnation or steps to curb cow vigilantism, which points to a larger systemic issue where communal divisions are being deepened through acts of violence masked as protection of cows.

India’s legal system provides clear procedures for dealing with cattle-related offenses, but vigilante groups have undermined these processes, creating their own form of mob justice. This trend is not just a matter of individual incidents; it signifies a growing challenge to the rule of law and the social fabric of India.

The price of vigilantism: A call for accountability

The six incidents recounted here are not just isolated acts of violence—they are part of a larger, growing trend of cow vigilantism in India, where law and order are being subverted by right-wing groups. The lack of accountability, the inaction of law enforcement, and the silence of the government are creating an environment where such violence thrives. Without urgent intervention, this trend threatens to deepen communal divides and undermine the rule of law across the country.

As these incidents continue to rise, it is imperative for civil society, legal experts, and human rights advocates to demand accountability from both the government and law enforcement. The time has come to restore the rule of law, protect the rights of marginalised communities, and ensure that no individual is subjected to violence or humiliation based on their identity. The question remains: how many more incidents must occur before there is a collective acknowledgment of the threat posed by vigilante groups to the democratic and secular fabric of India?

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The post Mob rule: The surge of cow vigilantism threatening minority livelihoods appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A video that emerged from Sangavi, Pune on Wednesday depicted a high-speed chase of a truck, resulting in a subsequent accident. The footage showed the relentless pursuit, with the assailants shattering the truck’s windows and windshield. The truck driver appeared distressed, his clothes torn, as the attackers interrogated him about the nature of his cargo and its intended destination. The video did not confirm whether the contents were indeed cow meat.

Location: Sangavi, Maharashtra

Cow vigilantes led a high-speed chase to stop a mini truck over suspicion of transporting cattle, which resulted in an accident.

The vigilantes also roughed up the driver. pic.twitter.com/k6UNixITFm

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) May 10, 2023

Under The Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976, section 5A (inserted in 2015) states that “(1) No person shall transport or offer for transport or cause to be transported cow, bull or bullock from any place within the State to any place outside the State for the purpose of its slaughter in contravention of the provisions of this Act or with the knowledge that it will be or is likely to be, so slaughtered.”

On May 4, a high-speed chase in Nashik resulted in a horrific accident involving not only the truck driver but also the cow vigilantes themselves. The truck was left severely mangled, with the cattle lying injured on the road. In the video, one of the cow vigilantes questioned the driver, inquiring about his injuries—whether they were caused by the accident or by physical assault. The driver claimed his injuries were solely due to the accident, denying any assault. The vigilante warned him that he was fortunate to escape this time but should not repeat such actions in the future.

Location: Nashik, Maharashtra

On May 4, cow vigilantes led a high-speed chase to halt a pickup truck over the suspicion of transporting cattle for slaughter, which resulted in a fatal accident.

Both truck driver and cow vigilantes have suffered injuries. pic.twitter.com/1bvRDmWl4n

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) May 5, 2023

In Latur on April 23, a Muslim man named Asif, who was transporting cattle, was apprehended by cow vigilantes. They forced him to wear his skull cap and bow before a cow, demanding an apology. Allegedly, Asif suffered injuries and was later admitted to a hospital, all of which unfolded in the presence of the police. Asif had purchased 18 cattle from one market with the intention of selling them at the Ausa-based animal market. However, before he could reach his destination, he was intercepted by the vigilantes. Subsequently, the police arrived, seized the vehicle and the cattle, and lodged a complaint stating that Asif had illegally purchased the animals with the intention of slaughtering them for beef, while also neglecting to provide proper fodder and water arrangements for the cattle. The police took the vehicle and the driver to the Gaushala (cow shelter). At the Gaushala, in the presence of the police, the cow vigilantes allegedly assaulted Asif, made him wear a skull cap, and coerced him into embracing a cow, all while recording the incident. As locals protested against the police’s support of the cow vigilantes, the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Latur, Somay Munde, initiated a departmental inquiry and repatriated three home guards. The local police initially refused to register an FIR, prompting a complaint to be filed with the SP’s office. The complainants alleged that Asif was assaulted and forced to consume cow urine. However, the police denied these allegations, stating that Asif was taken to the hospital due to an increase in his blood pressure. Yet, the complainants cited hospital records to support their claim that Asif had indeed sustained blunt injuries.

#Thread#Gaurakshaks or #cow vigilantes made 28-year-old Asif Qureshi to wear skull cap and bend to the #cow. All this happened in the presence of #policemen 4m #Latur district, #Maharashtra.

Asif’s #crime : transporting #cattle in his mini truck from one market to another

N/1 pic.twitter.com/72tsNVQ0FV

— Mohammed Akhef TOI (@MohammedAkhef) April 28, 2023

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The post Cow vigilantism casts its ugly shadow on Maharashtra appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image courtesy: India Resists

Let me state it as clearly as this, the beef ban is not a debate to be fought on grounds of constitutionality. The debate is not whether the beef ban is constitutional but in whose interest is the ban. The question is not which community is being targeted but which community wants the ban. The issue rests on public morality where the public is the majority community. One must shift away from arguing about minority rights guaranteed under the constitution because no one is really playing by ‘the book’. When we pose the debate as such, the ‘secular’ cloak of the right-wing falls.

Even before the beef ban became an official policy of the government, the mob had lynched to death Mohamed Akhlaq on the suspicion that he had beef in his fridge. Essentially this was a crime of public morality being upstaged rather than a violation of constitutional morality. Of course the mob violated the constitutional rights of the family but it had the social legitimacy of the villagers. The legitimacy of the violence is evident in the act of draping one of Akhlaq’s killer’s coffin in the tricolor flag. It is evident in the act of BJP politicians paying homage to the accused.1 Therefore is a waste of time to fight the battle on the terrain of constitutionality when public morality is all that matters.

The law, media house and the viewers

The constitution and the laws of the land are alien to most of us. The law for most of us is the tool of the state to punish and not to protect. Only a few believe that the constitutional laws are a guarantee against the barbaric local laws of the village.

Media house debates on TV are the closest we can safely get to investigating the constitutional law. All the ‘facts’ of the case are laid out to the viewers and the panelists and a feeling of oneness with the world is packed in those few words, “We the People” or “the nation wants to know”. We become one big investigative family, where the judge and the advocate is the news anchor. When media houses become the para-legal domain of ensuring justice, fairness, equality and all those values that are enshrined in the constitution, we have a problem. The fact is the media has its own biases.

There is nothing ethical or constitutional about news anymore. It will be a welcome change if the media or the government flashes a disclaimer, “viewers discretion is advised” before the airing of any news.

Media houses and the beef ban debate

The left-wing or liberal intellectuals will pose the question of beef ban on the constitutional right to freedom of expression and tolerance. They will question the double standards of the government to persecute Muslims and Dalits in the name of cow protection but not persecute the mob lynchers who hacked the victims to death. What does the government do? It takes out a bill on illegal trade of cattle.

Right-wing panelists argue that the majority interests and sentiments regarding the cow must be respected. It is here that the liberals must take the cue and state that the law in fact is operating for the majority. But they foolishly fall back on the argument that the constitution is made to protect all communities including minorities. The point is lost once again as the liberals speak on behalf of the victims and their rights without pushing to limits of the right-wing panelists by questioning the majoritarian politics or public morality. Following which they fail to question the neutrality of the cattle trade ban. The liberals choose to instead harp on minority victimization rather than vilifying the majority for what it is, a dictatorship of the majority! Rajdeep Sardesai only ends up being a Muslim apologist.

The right-wing media houses escape the debate unscathed. The right-wing news anchors argue that the beef ban is not targeting any community. It is a bill on illegal practice. They argue that the victims just happen to be Muslims or Dalits. Arguing in this manner there is not a dent on the constitutional secular identity of the ruling party. They argue that they are only representing the wishes of the majority. The majority being those who want to protect the cow, also known as the patriot. And that this is an open category, for there are many in their definition of the who do not like beef consumption.

The right-wing anchors cloak their biases in neutrality of patriotism and national spirit. This closes the gap between the constitutional morality and public morality. The issue is skirted via the constitution which is apparently is reflective only of majority/patriotic interest. Thus right-wing media houses use the constitution to their advantage. Arnab Goswami ends up being the national/patriotic upholder of the law as the public knows it.

Hindutva and the liberals

Liberal media houses do not let the audience reflect on public morality. The crowd does not understand the moral panic within the liberals about Hindutva. So what if India is proud of being a Hindu nation/ or has a Hindu party at the center? It does not mean that they are attacking the minorities. Hinduism is a peaceful religion (unlike some Others we know), and can co-exist with other religious minorities as well. After all, as Raveena Tandon says, Hindutva is all about wearing a saree, which is a traditional Indian dress. She later goes on to state that the liberals are free to tag her as a ‘sanghi’ for being a patriotic Hindu.2 Her tweet sums up the Hindu discomfort with constitutional morality and left politics. The liberals and the intellectuals have failed to bridge the gap between tradition and modernity/constitutionality. Moral codes built around public sentiments and traditions are easier to understand, relate to and apply rather than those built around liberty, secularism and justice that have varied clauses and sub clauses.

Liberals should ask themselves, how is it that after the barbaric act of lynching, the villagers still came out in full support of the accused? How is it that they became the ‘patriots’ of the nation while Akhlaq was criminalized for a crime he did not commit? Liberal and leftists need to understand that soft-Hindutva operates through moral panics that could make the Hindu feel insecure about wearing the saree. Hindutva is a subtle ideology that panders to majority sentiments of fear.

Resentment and identity politics

Resentment is a strong feeling. It is causing anger among the majority Hindus who feel that the Muslims who cannot be like Hindus/Indians must leave for Pakistan. It is a feeling that is popular among the minority who suddenly find that they are having to prove their patriotism/ nationalism at every turn, sometimes at the cost of their religious identity.

It is the duty of the left liberals to tease out the Hindu from the Indian that has merged in BJP rule. They should address the anxieties/moral panic of the majority. But they do not. They do not engage with the minds who have read and been brought up on Vedic texts interpreted by the local goonda. For if one really read the texts closely, Hindus also fed on beef.3 The key is to go back to the Vedas and reveal to the public that their ideals are a not so much built on fairness and equality as much as on twisted facts. To hell with the constitution, first let’s talk of the Ram Rajya and the casteist, patriarchal society that India was in the Golden Vedic age, in a language that will relate with the audience. People will turn off your channel, they are doing so anyway.

Give viewers bitter truths and shout it as aloud as Goswami, and you will give them a headache and a nagging thought. Do not make them go to bed feeling bad for being a Hindu and wearing a saree. Do not make them resent that the anchor was once again just taking the side of the minority community. Make them feel bad that the Vedic era has no mention of the Vedic dasi. Make them feel bad that they have been fooled into thinking that Hindus never ate beef! But the liberals will not do that.

And people will go to bed with the same feeling of persecution. Every community ends up feeling persecuted. Surely it is one’s patriotic duty as Arnab da, paralegal, semi-judge, says, to protect the cow and the constitution. Or was it only the cow? Or the constitution? Who cares? Where’s the difference?

Debjanee is a research scholar at the Centre for Political Studies in JNU. This write-up is an abridged version of her recent paper that can be accesses HERE.

This article was first published on India Resists.

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