While so-called 'cow protectors' have indulged in widespread vigilantism under the garb of protection of cattle, there has been little effort to save them from the real threat to their survival -- urban garbage, open dumps and apathy of cow owners.
Watch Opposition vs Government duel in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha LIVE.
Watch Opposition vs Government duel in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha LIVE.
In August last year, six men who were accused of lynching Khan were acquitted by a lower court in Alwar and this is the first conviction in the case.
The legislator from West Bengal claimed that there were several incidents where people across the country had been attacked by "cow vigilantes" over rumours of eating beef and smuggling cattle.
Singh also defended Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath over the latter's comments on 'Hindu Rashtra.'
The group of five 'gau rakshaks' also allegedly forced one of the victims to beat up a woman accompanying them with chappals, a police officer said.
Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra shared on Twitter a purported video clip of BJP's former MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja, who is allegedly seen admitting his supporters have so far 'lynched five people'.
On July 25, these four youths were discharged from Rajkot hospital as doctors said their condition had improved. But they were rushed to the civil hospital in Ahmedabad next day.
'The cow can always be the CAUSE.' 'Cause for murder. Cause for setting India's people against each other.' 'Not recognising the fact that this can tip the country into an unending spiral of civil strife and set the much-vaunted 'India story' back by years is the ultimate stupidity of all,' says Shuma Raha.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to file a report on alleged attacks on Christian institutions and priests across the country as well as on the implementation of its earlier guidelines to curb hate crimes.
'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.'
Cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi was remanded in police custody for a day by a Nuh court on Wednesday in connection with communal clashes that erupted in the district on July 31, and the police said his associates will also be arrested soon.
6 people, including Pehlu Khan's sons Irshad and Arif, and their lawyer were on way to court in Behror when some unidentified people arrived in an SUV and fired on them.
On April 1, six men had attacked Pehlu Khan while he was transporting his cows to Haryana from Rajasthan.
'If PM has some concrete information against gau rakshaks then he must disclose it, otherwise we will take legal action against him.'
There is a limit to which you target judges, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while expressing displeasure over news reports that it was delaying hearing a plea alleging increasing attacks on Christian institutions and priests across the country.
Dubey alleged that the tribals were arrested in connection with the June 13 incident due to pressure from the Congress and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe in the case.
A US federal government commission has flagged the alleged worsening of religious freedom in India and called for it to be designated as a "Country of Particular Concern".
Pehlu Khan's name was mentioned in the summary of the chargesheet.
The victims, Salma Mevati (35) and Shamim Akthar Hussain (30), both local residents were allegedly thrashed by self-appointed cow vigilantes.
The Additional Judicial Magistrate acquitted the six men, giving them benefit of the doubt, according to a lawyer.
The officer's remarks in effect contradicted the state home minister's conjecture, according the which the violence was engineered and had a mastermind behind it.
Bhagwat presented Sangh's views on a number of contentious issue while answering wide-ranging written questions on the last day of the three-day conclave, including on matters like inter-caste marriages, education policy, crimes against women, cow vigilantism.
Rajasthan Police has denied the allegation of a woman who said her full-term pregnant daughter-in-law lost her child after she was assaulted by it during a raid at her house.
The MHA was told by the Rajasthan government that a special police team has been constituted to arrest all those involved in the lynching.
The CID also charged three minors, as they were also apprehended during the probe.
Aslam, who had a narrow escape said, "We (him and Akbar, the deceased) both were going with our two cows, on seeing a speeding bike the cows ran into the fields where 6-7 people were present who fired at us, I ran away from the spot to save my life, later found that my friend was killed."
'Episodes of targeted attacks on Muslims established that for a section of people and, sadly, even officials of the State, the election results conveyed no lessons.' 'Opposition parties must not be hesitant in speaking out whenever the mob with tacit State support targets Muslims,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
The latest incident of lynching has been reported from Ramgarh in Jharkhand where the victim, identified as Alimuddin Asghar, was intercepted by a mob on suspicion of transporting beef in his van.
The decision to stay away from the work by the community members has left the administration harried
'Atrocity on Dalits get political support.'
Kejriwal on Friday accused the state administration of colluding in the incident of attack on Dalit men by cow vigilantes as he met the victims and their families.
On an average, 45 to 50 violent attacks take place against Christian institutions and priests every month throughout the country, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said.
'The problem here is not that one community's deity has suddenly become another community's meal.' 'Hindus and Muslims have been peacefully coexisting with their cows for centuries now.' 'The problem here is that a section of Indians has been suddenly made to realise that it makes great political sense to degrade each one of the 170 million Muslims to a potential cow-killer, lynch a few of them to keep the heat on, polarise and win elections.'
'We have Hindu values, Hindu customs, Hindu philosophy, Hindu way of looking at all religions as acceptable.' 'These are all great assets of India.'
The precautions are being proposed to ensure that other cattle varieties are not exported or transported outside the state as Nagori cattle
Two home guards were killed and at least 15 others, including several policemen, were injured on Monday as a mob in Haryana's Nuh district tried to stop a Vishwa Hindu Parishad procession, pelting stones and setting cars on fire, officials said.
Tharoor said the Congress should stand up for its foundational principles.
India is the birthplace of four major world religions -- Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is home to the world's third largest Muslim population, a diverse community of sects that includes Sufis, Shia, and Bohra. Roughly three per cent of India's citizens are Christian, and notably, Christians are the religious majority in three of India's 29 states, she said.
