It is alarming how in the name of ‘gau raksha’ or cow protection, innocent men transporting buffaloes – part of running their trade – are being assaulted by self-styled vigilantes, taking advantage of the BJP’s anti-cow slaughter policy. On a main South Delhi road on Saturday night three men transporting buffaloes in their vehicle were beaten up by some men in the presence of the police despite their pleadings that they had all the relevant papers to show that they were licensed traders. While no one disputes the sanctity of the cow as a Hindu religious symbol, it is unnerving that many anti-social elements are masquerading as cow protectors. That the police arrested the victims themselves as a reflex action and has swung into action against the perpetrators only after the media focussed on the matter is hardly reassuring. Such attacks on those transporting cows and buffaloes have taken place in Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and UP too and before this goes out of hand, the Central and State governments must come down hard on the perpetrators of such incidents.
The hard reality is that since the BJP attained power at the Centre and in many states, the so-called gau rakshaks have become emboldened. Many among them are banking on government protection in their strong-arm tactics to browbeat and extort money from meat traders. The police is undoubtedly reluctant to act against these ruffians unless they get a green signal from their political bosses. Prime Minister Modi did warn such elements and told states to make a list of these self-styled gau rakshaks and take them to task but on the ground nothing has changed. It is indeed time for action or else lawlessness would become a norm. Providing protection to licensed meat traders and their transporters is the least that governments need to do to instill confidence in the minority community.
Sadly, another alarming trend is that students from Kashmir are increasingly becoming the target of attack by miscreants in many parts of the country in retaliation for the mayhem that terrorists and their sympathisers have been indulging in in the once-idyllic state of Jammu and Kashmir. With the normal education schedule disturbed in the state due to disruptions through strikes and other means, many serious students are looking for completing their education in other states. It is unfortunate if they become the target of attacks. While Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has come out in their support, a stronger message needs to go out to State governments on such attacks. No one can be allowed to take the law into his own hands. The Kashmiri students must get full protection to pursue their studies in any part of the country. The governments cannot be passive bystanders in this.
