The Alwar incident that took place on Sunday stirred up a big controversy in India’s biggest state. A 55-year old dairy farmer named Pehlu Khan, along with fifteen people was thrashed to death by a group of hoodlums who claimed to be ‘gau rakshaks’ (cow vigilantes). This unfortunate incident took place when the victim was transporting a herd of cows from one place to another.
Though he held all legal documents testifying his purchase, the cow vigilantes, miffed by Khan’s shoddy treatment of the cows, thought it was right to take away the life of another human being, in the name of animal rights. Three of the five assailants were believed to be a member of ‘Bajrang Dal’ or ‘Vishwa Hindu Parishad’.
This entire episode gave way to a huge controversy in Rajasthan, with the opposition slamming Raje government of sidelining sensitive issues like law and order in the state, while occupying herself with upcoming Dholpur by polls. Needless to say, Raje’s cabinet sprung up in action.
Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Kataria made it clear in his speech that it’s ‘okay’ for cow vigilantes to check and report smuggling of cattle for slaughter. However, the government is strictly against people taking law and order in their hands. The government will not support or tolerate any incidents of violence in Rajasthan.
The controversy spread like a forest fire and knocked at the Parliament’s door within a week. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Police detained over 50 people for inquiry. The offenders were identified as Sudhir Yadav, Hukumchand, Om Yadav, Naveen Sharma, Rahul Saini and Jagmal Singh.
Three special investigative teams of Rajasthan team conducted a 24-hour search operation and announced a cash prize worth Rs 5 thousand each on the offenders. With their efforts, 3 out 5 assailants were arrested today. They’ve confessed their crimes and are awaiting trials. Meanwhile, the police have sped up their search process. They’re hoping to catch the remaining offenders soon.
Somewhat similar incidents have happened in Dadri (UP) and other states in last 3 years. Seeing the increasing rate of violence in the name of cow smuggling, the government needs to implement strict rules against offenders to prevent such incidents from happening in future.
