In Gujarat, cow protection law exists only on paper leading to conflict

Cow slaughter in Gujarat is a punishable offence, but is seldom enforced. This has led to vigilante groups taking the law into their own hands, leading to conflict.

Gujarat made cow slaughter and transportation of cattle to kill them for meat and skin a punishable offence five years ago. But the rules are seldom implemented, prompting vigilante groups to take the law in their hands.

In Gujarat’s Una district, four men were brutally attacked by gau rakshaks, vigilante groups who have taken it upon themselves to protect the cow. This is despite the fact that there is a law that addresses the issue. (Arun Sharma/HT Photo)

Data shows four communally sensitive districts in Gujarat — Panchmahals, Dahod, Ahmedabad and Vadodara — which are known to be hubs of illegal trade and transportation of cattle, have reported around 200 cases since 2011.

The Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amended) Act, 2011, prescribes a maximum of seven years in jail and fine of Rs 50,000 for anyone convicted of killing, trading and eating a cow. “The government has enacted the law just for votes. They never arrest cow-slaughter kingpins and beef traders,” said Gurpreet Singh, national general secretary of Gau Raksha Dal, a cow protection group with 1,200 volunteers across Gujarat. Vehicles ferrying cattle in most of these cases were caught by vigilantes, not police.

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Many vehicles were impounded on several occasions within months but no one has been convicted so far. Trucks, drivers, and suspected cattle-runners walk free as investigations lead nowhere. “We capture and hand over trucks full of cattle to police, only to catch them ferrying cows or buffaloes again after three months. Unlike the transporters, we do not have funds to get legal aid,” said Neha Patel, a volunteer.

Gujarat has been thrust into the limelight after four Dalit men were stripped and publicly flogged on suspicion of cow slaughter. They were caught skinning a dead cow. The attack has spiralled into a political maelstrom, with opposition cornering the ruling BJP, both at the state and Centre.

Cow protection vigilante groups have been active in various parts of the country against slaughter of cows and consumption of beef. Several state governments too have tightened laws on both following one of the most brutal attacks over cow protection in Uttar Pradesh last year, that of 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq who was lynched in Bisada village near Dadri, by a Hindu mob for allegedly killing a calf for meat.