Cow vigilante violence in India

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Cattle protection-related violence are a set of violent actions perpetrated by individuals or groups for the purposes of protecting cattle from slaughter or theft. Many Hindus believe in Animal rights, practice vegetarianism as a part of their Ahimsa ethical doctrine, abhor violence against animals, and particularly regard cows as holy. Historically, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs have considered cattle slaughter in India to be a wrong, in contrast to cattle being considered as a religiously acceptable source of meat by many in Islam, Christianity as well as some in Hinduism and other Indian religions. Cow slaughter is banned in most parts of India. Many of the groups that perpetrate this violence described themselves as gau rakshak (meaning "cow protection"); however, not all cow protection groups have resorted violence. The victims of this violence are mainly Muslims and lower-caste Hindus.

Self-styled "cow protection" groups emerged in India in the late 1800s, leading to riots in 1893. After that, there were sporadic incidents of related violence. However cattle-protection vigilantism has dramatically increased since 2014; many believe that Hindu extremists have been emboldened by the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party. The vigilante violence has included assault, property damage and murder. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have denounced the vigilantes, saying they were not legitimate "gau rakshaks" (cow protection volunteers).

Background

History of violence

1800s

The first cow protection group was launched in 1870 in Punjab. In 1883, Dayananda Saraswati formed a cow protection committee. Such groups protested cow slaughter, and petitioned the government to ban it. At issue was the Muslim consumption of beef. In 1883, cow protection riots between Hindus and Muslims broke out in Punjab; in 1888-93, there were riots in the United Provinces; in 1893-95, rioting broke out in Bombay and Mahrashtra. While cow protection was the main issue, historians point out that this conflict was exacerbated by class tensions between Hindus and Muslims, who often differed in land ownership and occupation. For example, in Punjab, the cow protection riots built on long-standing conflicts between Muslim peasants and Hindu traders; in the United Provinces there had been pre-existing tensions between Muslim landlords and Hindu peasants in rural areas and between Hindu bankers and Muslim artisan in urban areas.

Anti-Cow Killing Riot of 1893: At least, 100 people were killed in the 1893 riot.

Post-1947

In 1966, eight people were killed in riots outside the Indian Parliament in Delhi, while demanding a national ban on cow slaughter.

Cow slaughter in India has triggered riots and violent vigilante groups.>India: ‘Cow Protection’ Spurs Vigilante Violence: Prosecute Assailants, Protect Targeted Minorities, Human Rights Watch (April 27, 2017)</ref>

In 2002, five Dalit youths were killed by a mob in Jhajjar district, Haryana. The mob were reportedly led by members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad in the presence of local police officials, following false rumors that the Dalits had killed a cow. The local leader of the VHP, Acharya Giriraj Kishore said he had no regrets over the incident, and that the life of a cow was worth more than the lives of five Dalits. Kishore's comments were condemned by Indian newspapers.

According to PUDR, the VHP, a Hindu group, and the Gauraksha Samiti have defended violent vigilantism around cow protection as sentiments against the "sin of cow-slaughter" and not related to "the social identity of the victims". Various groups, such as the families of Dalits who were victims of a mob violence linked to cow-slaughter in 2002, did not question the legitimacy of cow protection.

In 2010, a mob attacked Muslims in Nerwa (Chaupal), Shimla, after alleged cow slaughter. The mob vandalized Muslim-owned shops and mosques, and some buildings were set on fire.

In 2012, Dalit students organized a "beef festival" on the Osmania University campus. They were opposed by a Hindu student group. In the resulting clashes, one student was stabbed, five others were injured and many vehicles were burnt.

In 2015 Business Insider reported that vigilante attacks on trucks carrying cattle had increased in Maharastra. In 2017, Bloomberg reported that according to the meat industry representatives, cow vigilantes have been stopping vehicles, extorting money and stealing valuable livestock.

Post-2014

Media groups state that cow vigilantism in India have increased after Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to power in 2014. Many cow vigilante groups say they feel "empowered" by the victory of the Hindu nationalist BJP in the 2014 election. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is another Hindu nationalist group active, with a history of cow protection-related vigilantism.

Indian states have been passing stricter laws. For example, in March 2015, Maharashtra passed stricter legislation with regards to cow slaughter. Cow vigilantes exploit ban on cow slaughter in certain states, and attack Muslims suspected of smuggling cattle for slaughter.

Contemporary "cow protection" groups

As of 2016, cow protection vigilante groups were estimated to have sprung up in "hundreds, perhaps thousands" of towns and villages in northern India. There were an estimated 200 such groups in Delhi-National Capital Region alone. Some of the larger groups claim upto 5,000 members.

One kind of cow protection groups are gangs who patrol highways and roads at night, looking for trucks that might be "smuggling" cows across the state borders. These gangs can be armed; they justify this by claiming that "cow smugglers" themselves are often armed. The Haryana branch of Bhartiya Gau Raksha Dal described to the The Guardian that it had exchanged gunfire with alleged smugglers, killed several of them and lost several of its members too. The gangs have been described as "unorganized", and gang leaders admit that their members can be hard to control.

The gangs consist of volunteers, many of whom are poor laborers. The volunteers often tend to be young. According to a gang leader, "it’s easy to motivate a youth". Often the youth are given "emotional" motivation by being shown graphic videos of animals being tortured. One member said that cow vigilantism had given him a "purpose in life".

The vigilantes often have a network of informers (consisting of cobblers, rickshaw drivers, vegetable vendors etc.) who alert them to suspect anti-cow activities. The gang members and their network often use social media to circulate information. Their relationship with the police is disputed: some vigilantes claim to work with the police, while others claim the police is corrupt and incompetent and they must take matters into their own hands.

Many vigilantes believe their actions are approved by the government and Hindus of India. For example, the vigilante group "Gau Rakshak Dal", formed in Haryana in 2012, believe it is acting on government mandate.

The Economist argues that cow vigilantism can sometimes be a profitable business. It pointed to an Indian Express investigation that found that vigilantes in Punjab charge cattle transporters 200 rupees ($3) per cow in exchange for not harassing their trucks.

Incidents

May 30 2015, Rajastan: a 60-year old man who ran a meat shop was beaten to death by a mob with sticks and iron rods.
August 2 2015, Uttar Pradesh: according to Human Rights Watch, "purported animal rights activists allegedly belonging to People for Animals" beat three men to death, after the victims were found carrying buffaloes.
Dadri mob lynching refers to case of mob lynching in which a mob of villagers attacked the home of a Muslim man Mohammed Ikhlaq, with sticks and bricks, who they suspected of stealing and slaughtering a stolen cow calf, on the night of 28 September 2015 in Bisara village near Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, India. 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq Saifi (Ikhlaq according to some sources) died in that attack and his son, 22-year-old Danish seriously injured.
October 9, 2015, Jammu and Kashmir: a right-wing Hindu mob in Udhampur district threw gasoline bombs at an 18-year-old trucker. The mob had incorrectly suspected the trucker of transporting beef.
October 14, 2015, Himachal Pradesh: a mob beat a 22-year old to death, and injured four others, after suspecting them of transporting cows. Police immediately arrested the victims of the attack, accusing them of cow slaughter. Later police said they would investigate if Bajrang Dal was behind the attack.
Jharkhand mob lynching 2016 Jharkhand mob lynching refers to the case of lynching of two Muslim cattle traders by allegedly Cattle-Protection Vigilantes in Balumath forests in Latehar district in Jharkhand on 18 March 2016. The attackers killed 32 years old Mazlum Ansari and 15 years old Imteyaz Khan who were found hanging from a tree.
Alwar mob lynching refers to the attack and murder of Phelu Khan, a dairy farmer from Nuh district of Haryana by a group of 200 cow vigilantes affiliated with right-wing Hindutva groups in Alwar, Rajasthan, India. Six others who were with Phelu Khan were also beaten by the cow vigilantes.
April 24, 2017, Jammu and Kashmir: a family of five, including a 9-year old girl, were attacked and injured; police arrested 11 so-called cow vigilantes in connection with the attack.
April 20, 2017, Assam: two men, in their 20s, were allegedly killed by a mob of cow vigilantes, after being accused of trying to steal cows for slaughter.
June 23 2017, Delhi-Ballabhgarh train: four Muslims were lynched allegedly over rumors of beef eating. According to the police, the victims had arguments over meat with their co-passengers who attacked them with knife.
On 1st May 2017, two Muslim men were allegedly lynched in Nagaon district of Assam on suspicion of stealing cows.
June 22, 2017, West Bengal: Three Muslim men were lynched in Islampur, Uttar Dinajpur for allegedly trying to steal cows. A police complaint was made by the mother of the deceased Nasir Haque. According to SP Amit Kumar Bharat Rathod, they had arrested 3 people named Asit Basu, Asim Basu and Krishna Poddar and conducting further investigation.

Response

Dalits

After an attack on four Dalits in Gujarat in July 2016, thousands of members of the Dalit community took to the streets to protest what they saw was "government inaction". The protests spread across the state. In clashes with the police, one policeman was killed and dozens of protesters were arrested. At least five Dalit youth attempted suicide, one of whom died.

Bharatiya Janata Party

While some have accused Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of supporting cow vigilantism in India, the BJP has denied this. In May 2017, Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani has said that the BJP does not support cow protection vigilantes. Siddharth Nath Singh has denied allegations that the BJP administration condones vigilantism and said illegal attacks would be punished.

In August 2016, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that cow vigilantism made him angry and condemned it. Modi has been criticized for not doing enough to end the violence. Zafarul Islam Khan says that Modi has condemned vigilante attacks on Dalits but not vigilante attacks on Muslims. The New York Times stated that Modi is partly to blame, as he has stoked inflammatory rhetoric over cow slaughter.

In November 2016, the BJP-led Haryana government has decided to provide ID cards for cow vigilantes. However they were not issued despite collecting the details of vigilantes.

According to Russia Today and Human Rights Watch, many cow protection vigilante groups are allied with the BJP. According to BBC News, many cow-protection vigilantes attend training camps organized by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which is BJP's parent organization.

Mukul Kesavan, in The Telegraph, accused BJP officials of justifying vigilantism. He pointed out that after some vigilante attacks, the BJP officials tried to get the police to charge the victims (or their family) for provoking the assault.

Supreme Court of India

Some Indian states are accused of having laws that enable cow protection groups:

Section 12 of the Gujarat Animal Prevention Act, 1954,
Section 13 of Maharashtra Animal Prevention Act, 1976,
Section 15 of Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964

The above laws provide protection of "persons acting in good faith under the Act". Members of the Indian National Congress filed a petition with the Supreme Court of India to declare the above laws as "unconstitutional" and to ban cow protection groups. In April 2017, the Supreme Court asked the federal government and that of 6 states to give a response to this petition.

Notes

The source says "The men are all daily wage labourers, left behind by India’s surging, but uneven economic growth"
Sarkar: "Another important material implication of the beef bans is violence, as the bans tacitly legitimize vigilante activity. For example, the Gau Rakshak Dal (cow protection group) was formed in Haryana in 2012 and now perceives itself to be acting upon the mandate of the government. Gau rakshaks (cow protectors) in various States take it upon themselves to punish those they believe to be harming the cow. It should be noted that it is the impression of violation of the cow, not necessarily the violation of the law, that drives these acts of retribution. In many cases, the violence occurs where the law may be silent, such as in the handling of dead cows. What is unquestionable is that the acts of violence themselves are illegal, but gau rakshaks are bolstered by the belief that their actions represent the political will of the state and the Hindus of India. Like the beef bans it stems from, cow vigilantism itself is not new in India, and violence over the protection of cows has occurred in the past. However, the frequency, impunity, and flagrance of the current instances of cow-related violence are unprecedented."

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