in the FIRnumber255/2019or in any
of the lynchingsthattookplacesince
2015,”the PUCLstatementsaid.The
Stategovernment“mustget the pro-
secutionto movean applicationand
withdrawthe chargesheetunderSec-
tions5, 8 and9 of the Rajasthan
Bovinelawfor allegedsmugglingand
crueltyagainstthecows”,it said.It
pointedout that11 otherdairyfarmers
fromMewathadalsobeenharassedby
cowvigilantes,sentto jailandhad
theircattleseized.
COWPOLITICS
Eversincethe BJPassumed powerat
the Centre in 2014, protection of the
cowemergedas a majorthrustof the
politico-culturaldiscourse.Around
the sametime,severalbovineprotec-
tionlawswereamended andmade so
stringent thateventhe saleof a camel
outsidetheState wasproscribed in
Rajasthan.Thecamelwasmadethe
Stateanimalin 2014,andin 2015,
thegovernment enacted the Ra-
jasthan Camel (Prohibition of
Slaughter andRegulationof Tem-
poraryMigration or Export)Bill,
2015,whichvirtuallyclampeddown
on the saleof the animaloutside the
State.
Thesaleandtransport of cattle
becamea regularnightmare for dairy
ownersandfarmers,whoare caught
betweenthe restrictionsimposedby
law and the terror of vigilante
groups.Mobruleandlynchingbe-
cameregular features,withan escal-
ation in the incidents where
members of the minoritycommunity
werethe victims. In July2018,Rak-
barKhan,also fromMewat, was
lynchedby cowvigilantes in Alwar,
wherehe hadpurchaseda fewmilch
cows(“Lynchmobagain”,Frontline,
August31, 2018).Alwarbecamea
districtsynonymous withlynching
incidentsthoughthe ruleof the mob
wasnotconfinedto Rajasthan.
Thelatestlynchingepisode was
on June17 thisyearwhena 24-year-
old man,TabrezAnsari,whowasre-
turning home in Saraikela
Kharsawan districtin Jharkhand,
wasforcedto utterJaiShriRamandJaiHanumanby a mob,whobeat
himup afteraccusinghimof stealing
a bike.Ansarisuccumbedto his in-
jurieson June21. Thiswasthe 14th
suchincidentin Jharkhand, reports
factchecker.in,a website thattracks
incidents of hatecrime.
In July2018,horrified by a spate
of suchincidents,the SupremeCourt
issueda setof guidelines,holding
that“horrendousactsof mobocracy”
cannotbe allowed to overrunthe law
of theland.It askedtheCentre to
comeup witha lawdirecting State
governmentsandUnionTerritories
to putmeasuresin placeto dealwith
cowvigilantismandmoblynching.
Such incidents continue to occur
withimpunity despitethehighest
courtof the landtakingseriouscog-
nisanceof them. The Jharkhand
FoodMinistercalled it a strayincid-
ent,butstatisticsshowthatmore
thana dozensuchincidentshave
takenplacein theState.Whatthe
politicalclass,especiallythe BJPand
its allies,doesnot realiseis thatgiven
the reachof socialmedia, suchincid-
entsareno longer “strayincidents”
buthave thepotentialto sowsuspi-
cionanddrivedeepsocialwedges
betweencommunities. $IRSHADKHAN(left),PehluKhan’sson who is namedin the charge sheet,
with his brothersat their residence at Jaisinghpurvillage in Nuh, Haryana,
in June2017.
SUSHILKUMARVERMA