Courtesy: Newsclick.in

The post Decoding ‘Gau Rakshaks’: How Cow Vigilantes Operate With Impunity appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Ahmedabad: Nishrin Jafri Hussain, daughter of slain Lok Sabha MP Ahsan Hussain Jafri, wrote a letter for action against mob lynchings to Shatrughan Sinha, the current Lok Sabha MP from Patna Sahib, Bihar. She said that a political movement against mob lynching will help to end the suffering of people and she hoped that what happened to her father and the aftermath of the Godhra riots, should not be repeated again.
 
In a letter that she posted on her Facebook profile, she said, “Please add your full name and city you belong to in the comment section if you want to add your name along with mine to this letter. I will be mailing this letter on August 1st, 2018.”

The letter has received 1,152 signatures from many cities and towns across state lines in India. It was signed by prominent activists, doctors, advocates, politicians, bureaucrats and research scholars as well. It has even received signatures from countries like Australia, USA, Singapore, Sweden, Germany, Kuwait and more.

Full text of the letter:
 
Dear Shatrughan Sinha Saheb,
 
When my father Ahsan Hussain Jafri Ex. MP (6th Lok Sabha) was brutally lynched in broad daylight in a famous city and state Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 28th February 2002, I thought my country will never let this happen to anyone ever again. This was the hardest thing that I had to struggle and fight to go on. My dreams, my day and nights, my work, raising my two boys, my everything had the lynching of my father in the background rolling as a never-ending movie and does to date. I did not see my father being killed but I heard every gory detail of how and what the mob did to him from the people themselves who pulled and brutally cut him to pieces in front of his own house and people, they boasted of what they did to him on videos and talk shows. My father was 73 years old.
 
But since last couple years I am reliving this nightmare almost on a daily basis as these gruesome videos of our Indian youth brutally killing other helpless old and young people in broad daylight while the rest of the bystanders encourage them to kill, police force is missing and as the rest of the country watches the videos of the brutal killing on social media and debates of news channels.
 
I think as a father you will understand my feelings about losing a father in this manner and as a human being you will understand the feelings of these simple helpless people who are losing a member of their family in this manner while the country watches silently or and helplessly in a country that has a system of law and order.
 
I urge you to please put out a statement, I urge you to please condemn this act officially, I urge you to please gather a committee who will hold these people accountable, I urge you to please hold the state accountable, I urge you to round up the top cops of the country, I urge you to take steps that a democratic country would take to stop this, I urge you because I strongly believe your voice will be heard, because I strongly  believe you can stop this madness as you have the power and the political platform.
 
Sincerely,
Nishrin Jafri Hussain.

Several persons have signed the letter including Teesta Setalvad Secretary CJP 

The post Ahsan Jafri’s daughter writes to MP Shatrughan Sinha to end mob lynchings appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
As many of 97% of these attacks were reported after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government came to power in May 2014, and about half the cow-related violence–32 of 63 cases–were from states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when the attacks were reported, revealed our analysis of violence recorded until June 25, 2017.
 
Of the 28 Indians who died over the seven-year period, 24 were Muslim, or 86%. As many as 124 people were also injured in these attacks. More than half (52%) of these attacks were based on rumours, our analysis found.
 
National or state crime data do not distinguish general violence from cow-related attacks and lynchings, so the IndiaSpend database is the first such statistical perspective to a growing national debate over such violence.

 
2017 on track to be worst-ever year for cow-related violence
 
In the first six months of 2017, 20 cow-terror attacks were reported–more than 75% of the 2016 figure, which was the worst year for such violence since 2010.
 
The attacks include mob lynching, attacks by vigilantes, murder and attempt to murder, harassment, assault and gang-rape. In two attacks, the victims/survivors were chained, stripped and beaten, while in two others, the victims were hanged.
 
These attacks–sometimes collectively referred to as gautankwad, a portmanteau of the Hindi words for cow and terrorism, on social media–were reported from 19 of 29 Indian states, with Uttar Pradesh (10), Haryana (9), Gujarat (6), Karnataka (6), Madhya Pradesh (4), Delhi (4) and Rajasthan (4) reporting the highest number of cases.
 
No more than 21% (13 of 63) of the cases were reported from southern or eastern states (including Bengal and Odisha), but almost half (six of 13) were from Karnataka. The only incident reported in the northeast was the murder of two men in Assam on 30 April, 2017.

Note: Data as of June 25, 2017. Compiled by IndiaSpend from media reportage. Incomplete information was cross-checked with local police or reporters. Click here for the list. (Rupnagar in Punjab reported two incidents, one on March 28, 2016 and another on July 31, 2016. The map indicates only first incident, the list mentions details of second incident.)
 
About half the cases of cow-related violence–32 of 63–were from states governed by the BJP at the time; 8 were run by the Congress, and the rest by other parties, including the Samajwadi Party (Uttar Pradesh), People’s Democratic Party (Jammu & Kashmir) and Aam Aadmi Party (Delhi).
 

 
“Lynching does not find mention in the Indian Penal Code. No particular law has been passed to deal with lynching,” India Today noted on June 25, 2017. “Absence of a codified law to deal with mob violence or lynching makes it difficult to deliver justice in the cases of riots. However, Section 223(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 says that persons or a mob involved in the same offence in the same act can be tried together. But, this has not proved to have given enough legal teeth to (the) justice delivery system.”
 
In a fifth of the cases, police registered cases against victims/survivors
 
Of the 63 attacks over eight years, 61 (96.8%) occurred, as we said, after Modi’s government came to power (2014-2017), with 2016 reporting the most attacks: 25. In the first six months of 2017, 20 attacks were reported–more than 75% of the 2016 figure.
 
In 5% of the attacks, there was no report of attackers being arrested. In 13 attacks (21%), the police registered cases against the victims/survivors.

 
Note: Data as of June 25, 2017. Compiled by IndiaSpend from media reports.
 
In 23 attacks, the attackers were mobs or groups of people who belonged to Hindu groups, such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and local Gau Rakshak Samitis.
 
During the period under consideration–2010 to 2017–the first such attack occurred on June 10, 2012, in Joga town in Mansa district, Punjab, “after carcasses of about 25 cows were found” near a factory, as the Hindu reported the next day.
 
“Led by activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Gowshala Sangh, villagers gathered in the morning and broke into the premises of the factory…The mob went on the rampage damaging the factory and setting ablaze the houses of at least two of those running the unit, Ajaib Singh and Mewa Singh,” the report said. Four persons were injured and three arrests were made in the case.
 
In August 2016, in Mewat, Haryana, a woman and her 14-year-old minor cousin were allegedly gang-raped after being accused of eating beef. Two other relatives were murdered. The woman later denied eating beef. Four men were arrested and charged with rape and murder.
 
In June 2016, Gurgaon Bajrang Dal convener and a Gau Raksha Dal (cow protection group) volunteer were injured when men transporting cows opened fire. Abhishek Gaur and Harpal Singh, the gau rakshaks, chased a vehicle in which smugglers were allegedly transporting beef. A case of attempt to murder was filed against the unidentified smugglers.
 
In January 2016, Maharashtra amended its 2015 beef ban law–banning people from possessing the meat of cows, bulls and bullocks, slaughtered within or outside the state. However, serving beef in restaurants across the state was allowed. Two cow-terrorism attacks were reported from the state, India’s richest by gross domestic product, in 2017.
 
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Bihar reported one attack each.
 
On May 30, 2017, a PhD scholar in Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, was at one of the vegetarian messes on campus, when he was attacked–allegedly for eating beef. An FIR was registered against the alleged attacker, while the scholar was booked based on a complaint by the alleged attacker who termed the incident a ‘minor scuffle’.
 
Rumours spawned 52% of the attacks
 
Of the 63 attacks since 2010, 33 (52.4%) were based on rumours, according to our analysis of media reports.
 
On April 1, 2017, 55-year-old Pehlu Khan, a resident of Haryana, was beaten by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan’s Alwar district. He succumbed to his injuries in a hospital two days later.
 
Azmat (age 22), who was with Pehlu Khan, said that they were returning from a Saturday fair in Jaipur, where they bought two cows and had all the valid documents, as the Indian Express reported on April 5, 2017.
 
A group of people affiliated with Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal stopped four vehicles, near Jaguwas crossing on National Highway eight, and alleged that they were illegally transporting bovines.
 
On hearing a Hindu name, the attackers allowed the driver, Arjun, to run away and attacked five people in the vehicles including Pehlu Khan, according to reporting by Scroll.in. All five were beaten and severely injured, the Indian Express reported.
 
On June 11, 2017, despite having a no-objection certificate (NOC) and official permission from police and other authorities, officials of the animal husbandry department of Tamil Nadu’s government were attacked by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan for transporting cows in five trucks. They were rescued by the local police. A case was registered against 50 attackers and four were arrested. Seven policemen were charged with dereliction of duty, the Indian Express reported on June 12, 2017.
 
(Abraham and Rao are interns at IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

The post 86% Dead In Cow-Related Violence Since 2010 Are Muslim; 97% Attacks After 2014 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

As has become a pattern, the Gau Raksha Seva Dal had organised the protest demanding sedition charges against Congress workers in Kerala after they slaughtered a cow in public and held ‘beef fests’ on May 27. The Youth Congress workers allegedly slaughtered the cow to protest the central government’s decision banning sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter.

Claiming that they mistook Shivam to be a photographer as he had a camera with him and asked him to take photographs of the protest and them handing a memorandum to district officials. After Shivam reportedly refused to do so, it led to an argument, however, bystanders calmed the protesters.

Bent o0n mob violence, post the protest, the gau rakshaks followed Shivam and stabbed him on his chest and stomach with knives. “He was admitted to a local hospital initially but taken to Delhi because of his condition,” police inspector Ajaib Singh told the media.

A 19-year-old, Mohit who is the main suspect in the case, has been arrested and two more suspects, both relatives of Mohit, are on the run. An “attempt to murder” case has been lodged against the three people and the complaint mentions the accused as members of the cow protection group. It is not yet known whether Mohit belongs to a clearly defined dupremacist outfit.

Typically, despite the fact that the three persons were part of the protest, the gau rakshak group has disowned the trio, saying they were troublemakers who joined the protest, the police inspector said.

The post Student Struggles for Life after Brute Attack by Cow Vigilante Mobs: Gohana, Haryana appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The newspaper reports that, a number of incidents have been reported from Bhopani village in Haryana's Faridabad district, bordering the national Capital, where villagers poured acid on the cattle, mostly bulls, to shoo them away from their agricultural fields. In one of the incidents that was brought to the attention of People for Animal on Wheels, an NGO, a two-year-old bull was attacked with concentrated acid by some villagers in Bhopani after they were allegedly fed up with losing their crop to grazing. 

The bull, received severe burn injuries on his hind limbs and lost much of its skin to attack. It has been named Shambhu by the NGO. Members of the NGO said parts of his internal organs could also have been damaged. The incident took place last week when the NGO received a call from an unknown person informing that a stray bull was sitting restless by the roadside with severe burn injuries After this, a team immediately reached the spot with an ambulance and traced Shambhu. 

It was Ravi Dubey, member of PAW who gave details to the newspaper about the rescue operation, Ravi Dubey. He said, 'When the bull saw the rescue team, he tried to escape.'The team then lured the animal by giving chapatis and tied it lightly with a rope. 'After providing medical aid, Shambhu has now been kept under observation by the NGO. Initially, he was not eating anything but he has started recovering. Now, he is on a proper diet.'

Significantly, no FIR has been registered in the case. Though police officials said in such incidents, FIR could be registered and action against the accused could be taken as per the provisions of Prevention of Animal Cruelty Act, 1960. During investigations by the NGO, it has been learned that villagers in Haryana often pour acid on cattle as they are useless for them, thanks to modern agricultural farming techniques. Another villager claimed at least six bulls were attacked recently. Mail Today tried to contact Jash Raj, sarpanch of Bhopani, but he refused to comment. Interestingly, no case was registered in either of these incidents.

Photos Courtsesy: Dail Mail

Villagers pour acid on the cattle, mostly bulls, to shoo them away from their agricultural fields

One of the bulls received severe burn injuries on its hind limbs and lost much skin. Parts of its internal organs could also have been damaged, its caretaker said
 

The post While Cow is the Mother & Protected, Bulls Attacked with Acid in BJP-ruled Haryana appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It was only after much public protest, police got into action and eight persons were arrested and charged. Before Solanki, another accused Vijay Bharwad had got bail on March 17. Both are accused of murder, attempt to murder, rioting and unlawful assembly . The HC granted them bail on condition of not leaving Gujarat without the court's permission.

 There are six other accused persons in this case -Vipul Vyas, Alpesh Rabari, Dhaval Bhatt, Aniket Shah, Ritesh Prajapati and Vikram Bhati.They are accused of attempt to murder and rioting. The high court granted bail on March 9 on furnishing a bond of Rs 10,000. All six got bail on the grounds of parity .

Twenty-nine  Year Old Mohammad Ayub succumbed to this brutal thrashing by 'Gau Rakshaks' (Cow Vigilantes) in Ahmedabad on September 16, the day that Narendra Modi, prime minister was all set to visit his home state on his birthday. Sabrangindia was the first to report on this heinous crime at the national level.

Ahmedabad remaineds tense as parents of 29 year old Mohammad Ayub, thrashed to his death by Gau Rakshaks then refused to accept his dead body until a case of murder under Section 302 is registered against the assailants. Though an FIR was registered two days ago when the brutal incident took place, the offence of murder has not been added. An irate but united crowd of Muslims and Dalits gathered today outside the municipal V.S, Hospital unfortunately known for it's partisan attitude towards patients. The crowd was there until late at night.

It was the Gujarat Today newspaper has filed a detailed report on the gory incident.Mohammad Ayub succumbed to his injuries at about 5 p.m. today. The incident around which they were attacked took place on September 13, three days ago, when the deceased Mohammad Ayyub and Sameer Sheikh were traveling in an Innova towards Ahmedabad with two calves. Suddenly they were chased by a mob calling themselves Gau Rakshaks who rammed into their car near Honest T-junction near Karnavati club in Ahmedabad, pulled them out of the car and beat them up.

This incident happened at around 3 a.m. on September 13.

The post Bail for All Assailant ‘Gau Rakshaks’ in Ayub Murder Case: Gujarat appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Seeing the attack on slaughterhouses as only an attack on Muslims us seeing only a tiny part of the larger picture says Subhashini Ali, Polit Bureau Member CPI(M). In this interview she details how the unlawful and hasty crackdown on slaughterhouses by the recently elected Yogi Adityanath government has affected the economic security of lakhs of Dalits and farmers in UP. 

The fact that the slaughterhouses suddenly shut down belong to the municipal councils and town areas itself reveals how the economy has been hit. For the past ten days to a fortnight, cattle markets have taken a beating in the state.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Weekly Cattle Markets Paralysed, Yogi Crackdown in UP has impacted Farmers, Dalits and Muslims: Subhashini Ali appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Naqvi’s comments that “No such incident took place as described by opposition in the house” triggered angry protests from opposition parties in the parliament.

According to NDTV, while responding to opposition protests in the Rajya Sabha, Naqvi said the state government had denied the incident.

Angry Congress’s Ghulam Nabi Azad, “The minister is ill-informed. Indian and Foreign press has written that man was beaten to death.”

When asked if he wanted the prime minister and the Rajasthan chief minister to speak on Pehlu Khan’s murder, his brother said, “We are helpless people. We want them to speak, we will listen. What else can we do but listen?”

Meanwhile, Indian Express revealed that the victim was a dairy farmer and not cow smuggler as alleged by the right-wing terrorists and reported by media.

Pehlu, according to the report, was hoping to increase milk production during Ramzan. But on Saturday, he decided to buy a milch cow instead, as the seller extracted 12 litres of milk in front of him and offered him a good deal. That decision cost him his life.

A group of right-wing terrorists had killed Pehlu on the suspicion of cow smuggling in Rajasthan’s Alwar district.

Police said that others, who were attacked, were either undergoing treatment in hospital or had been taken in judicial custody.

In contrast, the attackers have not yet been arrested. The police said they had filed a case of murder against six individuals and 200 unknown people.

Shockingly, local reporters working for national TV channels were aware of the incident, which took place on 4 April, but the senior editors were reluctant to carry the news because of its adverse impact on the state’s BJP government led by Vasundhara Raje.

One reporter, who was one of the first journalists to get hold of the video, said, “Our editors weren’t keen to run the story in the beginning. My sense was that they didn’t want the BJP government’s image to be dented.”

Raje’s home minister, GC Kataria, had justified Khan’s murder saying that both the victim and the murderers were at fault.

He told ANI, “Both sides are guilty particularly when you know cow smuggling is unlawful. There are laws against it.”

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter
 

The post Modi’s minister denies murder of Muslim man in Rajasthan over cow, sparks angry protests appeared first on SabrangIndia.

जयपुर.

Image Courtesy: Catchnews

पंचायत समिति राजसमन्द तथा जिला प्रशासन द्वारा आयोजित कुंवारिया पशु मेले (ग्राम पंचायत कुंवारिया, पंचायत समिति राजसमन्द में लगाया जाने वाला मेला) से रात्रि को (भारतीय समयनुसार मध्य रात्रि के बाद सुबह के लगभग 1 बजे 3 अक्टूबर 2016 ) 6 बैल बंजारा समुदाय के लोग खरीदकर अपने गाँव ला रहे थे जब यह गाडी गरासिया बंजारों का खेडा (भामखेडा) ग्राम पंचायत पीपली डोडियान पंचायत समिति रेलमगरा जिला राजसमन्द में पहुंची तो बजरंग दल और शिवसेना के गौरक्षा के नाम पर गुंडागर्दी करने वालों ने बैलों से भरी हुई गाडो को रोका और बंजारा समुदाय के लोगों से 5 हजार रुपये की मांग की. जब इन लोगों ने पैसा देने से इंकार कर दिया कि ‘पैसे किस बात के’ तब इन फर्जी गौ रक्षकों ने सबसे पहले तो जिस गाडी में ये बैल लाये गए थे उसके सभी कांच तोड़ दिए और आगे की हेड लाइट फोड़ दी. उसके बाद में इन समाजकंटकों ने बैल खरीदकर लाये सभी बंजारों को पीटना शुरू किया जिनमें गोरु बंजारा, रायसिंह को इतना पीटा कि उसका तो हाथ ही टूट गया जिसकी हड्डी टूटी है और जगदीश को उन्होंने एक धारदार हथियार जिसे कुंथ कहते से मारा उसके भी चोटें आईं हैं. ये गुंडे इतने पर ही नहीं रुके गोरु बंजारा को गर्दन पर कुंथ रखकर कहा कि कुछ भी बोला तो गर्दन काट डालेंगे और मोटर साइकिल पर पटककर ले गए जिसे रास्ते में आये गाँव भामाखेडा के लोगों ने छुड़वाया. ये सभी लूटपाट व मारपीट बजरंग दल के इकाई अध्यक्ष फुकिया निवासी जगदीश एवं  रतनलाल अहीर व 15 अन्य गुंडों ने की.

राजसमंद जिले के रेलमगरा पंचायत समिति के गरासिया बंजारों के खेडा में फर्जी गौरक्षकों द्वारा की गई यह एकमात्र घटना नहीं है राजस्थान के विभिन्न कोनों में इस तरह के घटनाएँ हो रही है और गौरक्षा के नाम पर बहुत लोग कहीं चौथवसूली कर रहे हैं कहीं पर लोगों की पिटाई कर रहे हैं और कहीं पर तो इस स्थिति तक लोगों को मारा गया है कि उनकी जान पर बन आई है.

इसलिए राजस्थान के सभी जन संगठन यह मांग करते हैं कि:-

1.      इस मामले में दोषी सभी 15 जो फरार हैं सहित सभी 17 गुंडों को गिरफ्तार किया जाये.

2.      ये सभी अपराधी बजरंग दल और शिवसेना जैसे संगठनों से जुड़े हुए हैं इसलिए इनके खिलाफ शिकायत दर्ज करवाने के कारण बंजारों के गाँव और शिकायत दर्ज कराने वालों पर ये कभी कभी हमला कर सकते हैं इसलिए गरासिया बंजारों के खेडा को सुरक्षा मुहैया कराई जाये.

3.      बंजारा समुदाय परंपरागत रूप से बैलों व अन्य पशुओं का व्यापार करता आ रहा है और  बजरंग दल और अन्य संगठनों के लोग इनसे चौथवसूली, लूटपाट व मारपीट करके समय-समय पर प्रताड़ित करते रहते हैं. बंजारा समुदाय घुमंतू समुदाय है जो आर्थिक रूप से पिछड़ा है. एक तरफ सरकार पशु मेले आयोजित करती है और दूसरी तरफ ये गुंडे पशु खरीदने वालों को इस प्रकार प्रताड़ित करते हैं इसलिए इस प्रकार के लोगों के खिलाफ सख्त कार्रवाई की जाये.

4.      राज्य सरकार पुलिस को इस बारे में विशेष हिदायत दे कि जहाँ पर इस प्रकार के लोगों के द्वारा लूटपाट और चौथवसूली की जाये उनके खिलाफ सख्त कार्रवाई हो जिससे ये गाय के नाम पर आतंक नहीं फैला सकें.

कविता श्रीवास्तव, निखिल डे, शंकर सिंह, भंवर मेघवंशी, पारस बंजारा, मुकेश निर्वासित, कमल टांक एवं अन्य सभी साथी

( राजस्थान के जन संगठनों की ओर से )

The post गौरक्षा के नाम पर गुण्डागर्दी, वसूली appeared first on SabrangIndia.