Two Muslim women were reportedly beaten up by members of cow vigilante groups at Mandsaur railway station in Madhya Pradesh on July 26 over suspicion that they were carrying beef. This makes it the first incident wherein women have become victims of the cow Taliban.
The women were reportedly caught carrying 30 kg of meat after which police was informed. Never mind that initial reports by a veterinary doctor suggest that the meat was that of a buffalo, the regime in Delhi –backed by a supremacist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)– has empowered the Cow Taliban to take law into their own hands, kill, maim and terrorise. Is this not an indigenous form of terror? So far, we have had no wise words of warning or caution from the powerful powers that be, even those who globe trot their way to evade the murky politics back home.
Shockingly, crowd of people, including policemen, stood by and watched, two Muslim women were slapped, kicked and abused by a mob led by cow vigilantes at a railway station in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.
A mobile phone video taken by one of the spectators shows the violent incident, with policemen making only a half hearted attempt to stop the attackers. The police, NDTV reports, were at the railway station to arrest the two women. They had been tipped off about the women carrying a large quantity of beef to sell. As the policemen apprehended the women, a mob gathers and begins assaulting them. The women were beaten for at least half an hour, with chants of "Gau Mata Ki Jai (Hail holy cow)" resonating from the crowd.
The policemen are seen making, at best, a half hearted attempt to control the crowd. The women are finally taken away by the police, after being subjected to blows, thrashes and verbal abuse. Police sources say about 30kg of meat was recovered from the women. However, the consignment was examined by a local doctor who pronounced it buffalo meat, not beef, reports say.
While importing of buffalo meat inside Madhya Pradesh without permission is illegal and thus both of them have been taken into custody for ‘smuggling and trying to sell’ the meat, the modus operandi is sinister as it suggests the illegal empowerment of mafias among the people, a mob empowered by the heady sense of impunity. Mob Terror: the video made by passers-by spread on social media giving rise to outrage following which state Home Minister Bhupinder Singh said that appropriate action will be taken.
Bahujan Samajwadi Party chief Mayawati also responded to this incident and said: “BJP raises slogans ‘Mahilao ke Samman me, BJP maidan me, yet in BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh women are thrashed on beef rumours.” Mayawati made a fiery speech in the Rajya Sabha today on the issue.
The incident has happened just a week after a video of Dalit youths being thrashed for skinning a cow went viral on the internet. It had been posted by the offenders, the law breakers themselves, revealing a brazen crass boldness and dare. It was this that has lead to the unique protests in Gujarat and other parts of the country. In Gujarat collectorates have been overwhelmed with dozens of cow carcasses dumped there; the traditional and legal occupation of Dalits (and Muslims –but who speaks of Muslims under RSS rule?) has been working with the hides of cows and buffaloes.
Cow slaughter is banned in Madhya Pradesh, but buffalo meat is still legal. The women, however, were still arrested as they did not have the necessary permit to sell the beef.
At the time of writing, no action seems to have been taken against those who attacked the women. According to NDTV, the police say that no action has been taken against the cow vigilante group members leading the attack, because no one has come forward to complain against them.
Attacks linked to beef rumours have seen an increase in India, ever since Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh over rumours that his family were eating beef. More recently, a video of four Dalit men being flogged, tied to an SUV and paraded for skinning a dead cow in Una in Gujarat went viral.
Others include Zahid Ahmed who was killed over cow slaughter rumours in Kashmir; a truck driver who was lynched as Bajrang Dal activists suspected the smuggling of cattle; two youths who were beaten up in Karhal area, UP, as news spread that a cow had disappeared from a field near the village and was taken away for slaughter (the cow's owner told the police that the cow had died of natural causes) — amongst several other incidents.
In fact, locally organised cow vigilante groups have sprung up across the country. These groups take matters into their own hands, using violence as a response to rumours and as a tool for fear mongering. Last month, Haryana Education Minister and RSS activist, Ram Bilas Sharma, went as far as defending the actions of these groups by saying, “The Hindu society has immense reverence for the cow. Youths are coming forward for cow protection like this. The law has brought a big change in the mindset of people and has swelled the reverence for the sacred animal.”