The recent death of a 25-year-old man on suspicion of being a cow thief in Haryana’s Palwal district stands testimony to the fact that any perceived disrespect to the cow can have dangerous consequences for human in the Manohar lal Khattar ruled Haryana.
The shocking incidents of lynching of 31-year-old Rakbar Khan, a resident of Haryana’s Nuh in neighbouring Rajasthan last month, and 16-year-old Junaid Khan on board a train in Faridabad last year, which had snowballed into a national debate, are also still fresh in people’s mind.
While the political debate rages over the perceptible rise in cases of lynching in the name of cow protection, the cattle dying of starvation in huge numbers at gaushalas and nandishalas (shelter for bovine animals) in Haryana seems to remain hardly a matter of concern for the authorities concerned.
The gaushalas and nandishalas in Haryana, which are constructed to protect the sacred animal, have been failing to ensure the survival of cattle. Poor conditions and lack of basic facilities of water and fodder at these shelters are often blamed on the scarcity of funds. Sadly, the deaths at various cow shelters across Haryana in the recent months tell a story of callous neglect of bovine species in the State. Every day, news of more cattle deaths keep pouring in from the State while the authorities remain unperturbed and the issue is forgotten after politically hullabaloo.
In a couple of months, more than 50 cows have reportedly died at a shelter in Jind, over 20 died at Ambala, atleast ten died in Tohana, atleast seven in Faridabad and the cases of deaths is still continuing in various gaushalas of Haryana.
In the absence of official records related to cow deaths, various animal welfare bodies estimate that more than 200 cows have died in various shelters across Haryana in the past few months.
Quite understandably, the BJP’s enthusiasm for cow protection does not reflect in the upkeep of cow shelters in the state.
There are more than 430 gaushalas and nandishalas in the State with strength of more than 3.41 lakh cattle.
Majority of cow shelters are privately managed by volunteers, NGOs, religious trusts and are dependent on financial assistance from the Government, donations from private institutions and individuals.
Kirti Sachdeva, a member of Gau Gyan Foundation, New Delhi while talking to The Pioneer said, “Every other day, 10-12 cows are dying at a Government-run nandishala in Jind. The situation seems to be similar in other big nandishalas and gaushalas in the State.”
“There are more than 3,000 bovine species at the nandishala in Jind city. Cows are dying due to starvation, non-availability of water, medicines and lack of care at the nandishala,” she said, adding the issue has been brought to the notice of district administration and State Gau Seva Aayog but to no avail.
“Gau Gyan Foundation has been working since long for the rehabilitation of rescued cattle from cow smugglers and also, to rehabilitate sick and injured stray cattle. Earlier, we used to send rescued cattle to Jind nandishala. But after continuous deaths of cows due to negligence of authorities and scarcity of basic needs there, we have stopped sending rescued cattle to the Jind nandishala,” she added.
Interestingly, Haryana was among the first States in the country to enact the Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamva-rdhan Act in 2015, imposing a strict ban on cow slaughter apart from curtailing smuggling of cows outside the state. It provides for a rigorous imprisonment ranging from three years to ten years for cow slaughter and provides for a fine from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
Not only this, the state has “Haryana Gau Seva Aayog”, created for the proper implementation of laws with respect to prohibition of slaughter and to work for the welfare of innocuous cows.
Acharya Yogendra Arya, president of Gau Raksha Dal, Haryana said, “Cattle are dying in nandishalas and gaushalas in various districts of Haryana. Reports of cattle deaths have been reported from shelters in Jind, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Hansi, Hisar, Tohana, Panipat, Karnal, Sonipat during this year.”
The situation is worse in Government-run nandishalas which have poor infrastructure besides scarcity of water and fodder, he added.
Yogendra Arya, who is also the vice-president of Bharatiya Gau Raksha Dal and a former member of Haryana Gau Sewa Ayog also alleges that despite its big claims, the Government has failed to keep a check on cow slaughter and smuggling in the State.
Up in arms against the State authorities for neglecting the bovine species, the State Gau Raksha Dal has also announced to undertake “Gau Rakshan yatra” from August 16 to September 2 across Haryana.
Criticising the Government for failing thrice to achieve the target of making the State stray — cattle free, Yogendra Arya further says that the Government has set another target to rehabilitate the abandoned cattle across Haryana.
The Government had recently launched ‘Haryana Besahara Gauvansh Mukt Yojana’ to accomplish the target of making Haryana, a stray-cattle free State.
According to the animal rights activists, following Government’s drive to rehabilitate the stray cattle in Haryana, the gaushalas and nandishalas in the State have either filled to capacity or become overcrowded. And, this has increased the problems for gaushalas owners, who were already facing shortage of funds.
There seems to be an apparent display of double standards by the BJP, which keeps harping on beef and cow smuggling. But, the dying cows in State’s gaushalas remain an issue of least concern for the ruling regime.
Nonetheless, cow has always hogged the limelight in Haryana, thanks to the constant courting of controversies by pro-bovine BJP.
Be it enforcing a strict Act to keep a check on cow slaughter and smuggling, appointing a senior IPS officer to monitor cases of cow smuggling or ear tagging the cattle, the ruling saffron party in Haryana has been known for going overboard in the name of cow protection.
The State Government’s decision to issue ID cards to the gau rakshaks had faced severe backlash from the opposition and social activists, who had alleged that it would act as a licence for vigilantism and allow the cow protectors to take the law in their hands. After a year of delay, the project was finally shelved last year.
Earlier, the saffron party had also come under fire in 2016 over its move to collect samples of biryani from Muslim dominated Mewat district to keep a tab on consumption of beef in the area, just ahead of Bakri Eid.
No stranger to controversy, Haryana’s senior Minister Anil Vij had even pitched for declaring cow as the national animal and had also launched an online poll for this.
Alleging that cow has become a political tool for the BJP and other political parties, Naresh Kadyan, India’s representative at the International Organisation for Animal Protection (IOAP) and an animal rights activist said, “The initiatives regarding cow protection are only on papers and there is zero implementation on ground-level in Haryana.”
“The so-called gau rakshaks and gau bhakts, including the Government’s representatives, are doing more harm to cattle than ensuring its protection. Cases of cow smuggling and slaughtering are still continuing in Haryana and on the other hand, cattle in gaushalas and nandishalas are dying due to unavailability of basic facilities,” he said.
Notably, cow slaughter and smuggling has always a sensitive issue across Haryana, as the animal is held in high respect and several gau rakshak dals are formed to keep a vigil on those involved in the crime.
In the past, numerous incidents of violence have been reported from Haryana on the suspicion that cows were being transported to slaughter houses. Several videos had also surfaced in the past three years showing self proclaimed gau rakshaks thrashing minorities for allegedly possessing beef in the State. Mentioning various Government initiatives for cow protection, Kadyan said, “The announcements for cow protection are only for publicity. Haryana Gau Seva Aayog and the State Animal Welfare Board, constituted with an objective of cow welfare have also remained useless.”
“The Gau Seva Aayog has an office, 17 members including a chairman and vice chairman. lakhs of rupees are being spent on their salaries but the government has no funds for the upkeep of gaushalas and nandishalas,” he added.
To generate revenue for the protection of cows, the Haryana Gau Seva Aayog had in the year 2016 recommended to the State Government to impose five percent ‘cow cess’ on movie tickets and donation of Rs 2,100 be given for Gau Seva for the functions organised in banquet halls of the State.
Further, the Aayog had proposed diversion of donations from government-managed temples in the state and levying Rs 1 on each bag of wheat, paddy and other crops bought from the State's mandis.
But, all such proposals were put on the backburner, fearing backlash from various quarters. While the State Government is being criticised for neglecting the bovine species in cow shelters, Bhani Ram Mangla, chairman of Haryana Gau Seva Aayog has termed the deaths of cattle at gaushalas as “natural deaths”.
“large number of deaths are reported because the stray cattle brought to the gaushalas and nandishalas are mostly old, injured, diseased, and handicapped,” he claimed.
On the issue of lack of basic facilities at cow shelters, he says that there is no scarcity of water and fodder at any gaushala and nandishala. Also, there is no dearth of funds, he claimed.