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| Haryana's Brutal Cattle Vigilantes, |
| Haryana's Brutal Cattle Vigilantes, Notorious for YouTube Videos, Appear to be Above the Law
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| INDIA
, 21-March-2015
5:17:44 AM |
| In a cattle shelter in Punjab's Patiala district, we meet the heavily armed men of the Gau Raksha Dal or cow protection group.
In real life, they are not different from what is shown on their Facebook page - posing with bulletproof vests and guns, like a self-styled militia.
The Dal has gained notoriety for posting videos online of its vigilante-style attacks on trucks, mainly in Punjab and Haryana, for allegedly carrying cattle for slaughter.
RelatedHaryana Assembly Passes Bill Banning Cow Slaughter, Sale of Beef
Maharashtra Beef Ban: Eating Steak Can Land You in Jail for 5 Years
Parkash Singh Badal Announces Measures for Cow Protection in Punjab
In a typical video, those driving the trucks are dragged out and brutally beaten, sometimes within an inch of their life. As the Dal conducts the 'raids', the police often stand by helplessly. The trucks are then burnt in full public view.
On the day we visited, the President of the Gau Raksha Dal, Satish Kumar proudly showed off a burnt truck from an earlier 'raid', now lying in the compound of the cattle shelter.
He brushed aside questions on how his group could take the law into their hands, saying if anyone insulted the cow, considered sacred to Hindu religion, "people are bound to get angry".
Based on their videos, almost all the trucks stopped by the Dal carried bulls and not cows. The slaughter of bulls certified unfit for agriculture is permitted in several states. Though slaughter is banned in Haryana and Punjab, the laws of both states, until a week ago, allowed the conditional transportation of the animals to other states.
Haryana only last week amended its laws to criminalise transportation of cattle for slaughter.
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