cow slaughter

'Adding one more incident to the long list of lynchings in Jharkhand, a 50-year old adivasi from Jurmu village of Gumla’s Dumri block was beaten to death on suspicion of cow slaughter by a mob allegedly belonging to the Sahu community of neighbouring Jairagi village on April 10, says a fact-finding team’s report. The deceased – Prakash Lakda – had gone there for skinning a dead ox along with three others – Peter Kerketta, Belarius Minj and Janerius Minj – who sustained injuries in the murderous assault, it said.

'A legendary South Asian dish has suddenly found itself in the midst of a war in India. Made up of layers of meat and rice and cooked with fragrant spices, the dish is the much-loved biryani. And the latest battlefield is in the northern Indian state of Haryana. The police there have been collecting biryani samples from households and shops in Muslim districts like Mewat, to check if the meat in the biryani is beef – the consumption of which is anathema to many Hindus.

'Terming those who slaughter cows as the country's biggest enemies, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Thursday said they had "no right to live in the country". "Anyone who kills cows, no matter which community he belongs to is India's biggest enemy and has no right to live in the country," Rawat said addressing a function on the occasion of Gopashtam in Haridwar on Thursday...'

'...Several nights a week Mr Sharma marshals his "patrolling soldiers", as he calls them, to keep a watch on what they say are smugglers illegally transporting cows to sell for slaughter. Groups like his are thriving thanks to the rising hysteria and sporadic violence over slaughter of cows and consumption of beef in India. The ruling BJP government has tightened laws on both since coming to power last year. The cow, venerated by India's majority Hindu people, has re-emerged as India's most polarising animal.