SC gives Centre, six states 3 weeks to respond to petition seeking ban on ‘gau rakshaks’

The Supreme court issued notices to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Rajasthan where a Muslim man was lynched allegedly by cow vigilantes on a highway this week.

The petition was filed by Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla, who called for cow protection groups to be declared illegal and said there has been a spike in instances of cow vigilantism.
The next date of hearing is May 3.

This comes days after the vigilantes – called gau rakshaks – thrashed five men on the Jaipur-Delhi highway, leading to death of one, called Pehlu Khan, in hospital. The men had valid permits for transport of cows and calves. Earlier this week, Gujarat made cow slaughter punishable by life imprisonment.

This was the latest in a string of cow-related violence but various state governments have defended the action on the grounds of the sentiment attached to the animal, considered holy by many Hindus.

These groups became active after the BJP-led government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over at the Centre. They claim to protect cows from being taken to slaughterhouses. Critics, however, accuse these vigilante groups of targeting people, mostly from the Muslim and Dalit community.