E-Paper
Minority body demands govt’s ‘strong’ message against cow vigilantism
From the lynching of Md. Akhlaq in Dadri last year on the suspicion that he was consuming beef to gau rakshaks killing a Muslim youth in Ahmedabad to biryani policing in Haryana, many cases of violence against minorities by these self-styled custodians have been reported.
With atrocities in the garb of cow vigilantism on the rise, the country’s watchdog for minority protection has cautioned the government about its communal fallout and asked it to issue a “strong” statement against such “outlandish behaviour”.
“We believe that there is a need for a very strong statement from the highest levels of the government, stating that such outlandish behaviour will neither be tolerated nor can it go unpunished and that the secular credentials of India will be protected by the State at all costs,” National Commission for Minorities (NCM) chairperson Naseem Ahmad wrote in a letter to home minister Rajnath Singh.
The panel reminded the government that even as law and order is a state subject, “the central government would be well within its powers to ask the states to handle such situations with a heavy hand and to enforce sense of security among the minorities in all seriousness”.
From the lynching of Md. Akhlaq in Dadri last year on the suspicion that he was consuming beef to gau rakshaks killing a Muslim youth in Ahmedabad to biryani policing in Haryana, many cases of violence against minorities by these self-styled custodians have been reported.
“We wish to bring to your kind notice the increasing violence against Muslims by the so-called vigilante groups and the fear that this is creating across the country. The commission has been receiving petitions and has prepared reports on some of these incidents,” wrote Ahmad.
