Disband and disarm cow vigilante groups

he state government’s much-delayed decision to set up the district panels is a positive step, but it should not stop at that; the state must disarm the cow vigilante groups, disband them, and uphold the rule of law.

The Haryana government last week directed local administrations to set up special committees for cow protection and promised to crack down on private cow vigilante groups. The move came after this newspaper reported how lack of enforcement of a section of the Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015, and the failure of the state government to set up district cow protection committees has allowed cow vigilantes such as Monu Manesar, allegedly involved in the February 16 killing of Junaid and Nasir from Rajasthan in Bhiwani, to mete out their version of violence and justice.

The failure of the state government to set up district cow protection committees has allowed cow vigilantes such as Monu Manesar (centre), allegedly involved in the February 16 killing of Junaid and Nasir from Rajasthan in Bhiwani, to mete out their own version of violence and justice (HT PHOTO)

The catch is in section 16(1) of the law that deals with its enforcement, which only permits a sub-inspector of police or any higher rank police officer or any person authorised by the government to act within the ambit of the said section, and nobody else. In 2021, the government notified state- and district-level cow protection task force committees to “give teeth to the act”. At the district level, each cow protection task force is required to have 11 members, six government officials and five private citizens. But this legal restriction of the number of people that can enforce the law has fallen through the cracks, even as the administration failed to set up these committees.

While stopping cow smuggling may be a priority for the government, the presence and actions of private cow vigilante groups are illegal and unacceptable. The state government’s much-delayed decision to set up the district panels is a positive step, but it should not stop at that; the state must disarm the cow vigilante groups, disband them, and uphold the rule of law.