*NEW DELHI – At least 44 people were killed in cow-related violence betweenMay 2015 and December last year, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report said.*
The Human Rights Watch further said on Tuesday that Indian police are oftencomplicit in killings carried out by cow vigilante groups and called onauthorities to take tougher action to halt lynchings.
The slaughter of cows — revered by Hindus — is a powder-keg issue insecular India. Men accused of killing or trading in cattle haveincreasingly been targeted since the Hindu nationalist government came topower in 2014.
Critics have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing party ofpandering to fringe groups to win votes.
“Calls for cow protection may have started out as a way to attract Hinduvotes, but it has transformed into a free pass for mobs to violently attackand kill minority group members,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asiadirector at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“Indian authorities should stop egging on or justifying these attacks,blaming victims, or protecting the culprits,” Ganguly said.
The damning report said some members of the governing Bharatiya JanataParty had justified attacks on minority Muslims and low-caste Dalits whoeat beef.
Thirty-six of the dead were Muslims and in almost all cases, policeinitially stalled investigations, ignored procedures, or were complicit inthe killings and cover-ups, HRW alleged.
Police even filed complaints against victims’ family members under lawsbanning cow slaughter, making them afraid to pursue justice.
The damning report said some members of the governing Bharatiya JanataParty had justified attacks on minority Muslims and low-caste Dalits whoeat beef.
In one case in 2016, a vigilante group beat to death a Muslim cattle traderand a 12-year-old boy travelling to an animal fair in the eastern state ofJharkhand.
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Their badly bruised bodies were found hanging from a tree with their handstied behind them.
Police even filed complaints against victims’ family members under lawsbanning cow slaughter, making them afraid to pursue justice.
“If I stepped out, they would have killed me, too. My son was screaming forhelp, but I was so scared that I hid,” the report quoted the boy’s fatheras saying.
In another case, the murder of a Muslim man by a mob in June 2018 wasdescribed in police records as a “motorbike accident”.
The report includes testimonies from relatives of victims, describingpolice threats and intimidation.
“They (police) also threatened us with arrest under cattle protection laws,saying they will put our whole family in jail,” the report quoted thebrother of one victim as saying.
The slaughter of cows and the possession or consumption of beef is bannedin most Indian states, and in some are punishable by life sentences.
Modi, who will seek a second term in office in elections due by May, hascondemned cow vigilantism and urged a crackdown on groups using religion asa cover for violence. – APP/AFP
