A 23-year-old man transporting cattle was lynched allegedly by a group of 'gau rakshaks' (cow vigilantes) in Maharashtra's Nashik district following which six persons have been arrested, police said on Wednesday.
It is PM who is creating such environment, he said.
'It's not only holy reverence that drives them to such vigilantism -- there is adventure too.' 'Some of the younger gau rakshaks enjoy the thrill of the chase: Stopping vehicles, wielding weapons, badgering passengers and then gloating.'
In a video of the meeting which took place Monday at a college in Behror, self-styled gau rakshak Sadhvi Kamal Didi was seen telling Yadav, "Poora Bharat tere saath mein hai, aur hum apne desh mein aise kaam nahi karenge toh kahan karenge. Koi bhi toh na jhuke, aur na he tujhe kisi prakar ki chinta karne ki avashakta hai (The entire country is with you. If we won't do such things in our country then where else. One shouldn't give in. You shouldn't worry about anything)," she said.
In Lok Sabha, the Opposition demanded action against cow vigilantes.
According to reports, several victims of the group have told the police that they were detained by the self-styled cow vigilantes, robbed, tortured and also sodomised by Satish.
Jyotispeethadheeswar Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who was scheduled to participate in the "Gau Dhwaj" hoisting programme at the Ram temple in Shimla, boycotted the event and did not visit the shrine.
Haryana government's 'Gau Sewa Ayog' said the step will prevent unscrupulous elements from extorting money and harassing people in the name of cow protection.
'The BJP has failed to protect cows.' Why doesn't the government say it is a government for cows, mandir and the Ganga?' 'Why don't they declare the cow as a national animal?
'Be it tourist guides, hotels, rickshaw drivers, all have a livelihood thanks to Shah Jahan.'
On Friday, he clarified that he was referring to Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh where no such incident had taken place. "We do not justify anarchy and hooliganism," he said, adding that the incident in Alwar did take place and an FIR has been registered against six persons.
The Bajrang Dal activists alleged that the behaviour of the four persons had been 'suspicious' and accused them of being cattle thieves.
At the 'Sarva Jatiye Mahapanchayat', participants from Palwal, Gurugram and other nearby places took part, and it was decided that the yatra will resume from Nalhar in Nuh and then pass through Firozpur Jhirka's Jhir and Singar temples in the district.
Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister who has set his eyes on the western state, said it was the "triumph" of AAP's fight against corruption in Gujarat.
The family of a 22-year-old youth has accused cow vigilantes of thrashing him to death after branding him a cow smuggler in Nuh district, but the police said he died in a road accident.
The Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Thursday launched a frontal attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party over growing attacks on Dalits and other sections, saying a "Taliban-like attitude" was prevailing in some parts of the country and the 'Gujarat model' had been thoroughly exposed.
There are indications that the Modi dispensation was disinclined to bring the VHP into the temple-mosque frame.
'Muslims have been observing namaaz for so many years.' 'The BJP wants to divide Hindus and Muslims for political gains.' 'This is happening in Haryana even though Muslims are only present in one district of Haryana.'
An alleged cow smuggler was shot dead and his accomplice injured in an encounter with Haryana police near Thanesar town in Kurukshetra in the wee hours on Sunday, police said.
'Modi maintains what has been called a 'strategic silence' on controversial topics,' points out Amulya Ganguli.
'He was No 2 to Laloo Prasad in the last government and he will be No 2 in the new one as well, not to Sushil Modi, but to the other Modi in Delhi.' 'In the process, Nitish Kumar will have to forget any role which he may have secretly entertained about playing a larger role on the national stage,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Would a Muslim or Christian or Dalit mob who lynched someone because their religious feelings were hurt be given State protection? asks Jyoti Punwani.
'It would be a folly on our part to believe that the KKK or its Indian version exists only as some dedicated organisation. Rather, the Indian KKK, much like the American counterpart, exists as a fragmented and amorphous collection of independent groups and individuals,' says Shehzad Poonawalla.
'Despite living in a free nation for so many years, if atrocities like rapes, public flogging, social boycotts are faced by Dalits, then conversion is the only option.'
Mohan Bhagwat flagged a number of issues like illegal immigrants, cow vigilantism, situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the economic scenario in his Vijayadashmi address.
Journalist-turned-activist Teesta Setalvad in her new book 'Foot Soldier of the Constitution: A Memoir' has spoken of the rise of communalism and the aftermath of the '02 Godhra riots. In this interview with Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf, she discusses her book, the cases against her and the state of secularism in the country.
'For Muslims it is time to understand what sense of fears are in the minds of Hindus.' 'I think the conversation somewhere is not taking place.'
'Public dissent is the highest public duty and I will continue to speak out,' says Harsh Mander.
Most of the opposition parties blamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliates for the cow vigilantism.
The issue of lynchings resonated in the Rajya Sabha; while in the Lok Sabha, the Opposition accused the government of not being sensitive towards farmers' issues.
