Amid escalating unrest over beef consumption across the country, the Manohar lal Khattar Government in Haryana has directed the gau raksha dals to refrain from taking the law into their own hands, to enforce cow protection law.
The directions came after spur in the incidents of brutal attacks by gau rakshaks (cow protectors) against minorities over suspicions of cow smuggling and slaughter across the country.
The BJP-led State Government has also initiated process to issue identity cards to the genuine gau raksha outfits, who are working for cow protection in Haryana.
As per the data compiled by Haryana Gau Sewa Aayog, there are more than 200 gau raksha dals in the State.
"The Aayog has given strict instructions to the gau raksha dals across the State to not indulge in violence or take law in their own hands in the name of cow protection," said Bhani Ram Mangla, chairman of Haryana Gau Sewa Aayog while talking to The Pioneer.
He said there were more than 200 gau raksha dals and we have submitted their list to the Police Department for verification.
"A meeting with gau raksha dals from across the State was held recently where they were directed to assist the Police Department to stop cow smuggling and slaughtering in the State. The dals have also been apprized about the constitution of gau rakshak task force by the State Government," he added.
With cow slaughter and smuggling remaining a sensitive issue across Haryana, the first BJP Government in Haryana had in 2015 enforced Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gau Samvardhan Act 2015 making cow slaughter punishable with rigorous imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
In the past, several videos had surfaced showing self proclaimed gau rakshaks thrashing minorities for allegedly possessing beef in the State.
In one video, a Muslim youth was beaten up by three gau rakshaks in Sohna for allegedly trying to smuggle beef in Mewat while in another video, gau rakshaks were seen forcibly feeding cow dung to two alleged beef smugglers in Faridabad
last year, Haryana Government had decided to issue identity cards to genuine cow protectors in the State. For this, the Haryana Gau Sewa Aayog had compiled a district wise list of cow vigilantes groups for police verification.
However, with Police Department earlier seeking Rs 500 per person for verification, the process of issuing identity cards was delayed. After the request of Gau Seva Aayog, the Police Department later decided to conduct police verification of gau rakshaks free of cost.
The State Government is also carrying out ear tagging exercise to cover cattle in around 430 gaushalas in Haryana. As many as 3.50 lakh ear tags of yellow and pink colour have been procured by the Haryana Government for the ear tagging process.
Be it enforcing a strict Act to keep a check on cow slaughter and smuggling to issuing identity cards to gau rakshaks, the first BJP led Haryana Government after coming to power in 2014, has pushed for aggressive cow protection measures in the State.
last week, the Union Environment Ministry had also notified stringent rules that ban sale and purchase of cattle from any animal/livestock market for purposes of slaughter or religious sacrifice. Amidst row over the notification, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has put a four-week stay on the Centre’s ban.
