Aligarh cow vigilante assault case: Opposition hits out, says ‘system of mob rule encouraged by govt'
After the police said that the meat found with four men who were assaulted on suspicion of transporting beef in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district was buffalo meat, Opposition parties hit out at the government, demanding the strictest action against the accused, and targeted it over the law-and-order situation in the state.
The police said Wednesday that a forensic science laboratory had confirmed that it was not cow meat. They had earlier said that the men were transporting buffalo meat.
Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha member Ramji Lal Suman, part of a delegation sent by the party to meet the families of victims, told The Indian Express that those accused in the case are involved in extortion. 'They have been doing this for some time. They have a criminal history. They should face the harshest punishment,' said Suman.
Also Read | Meat in vehicle was not beef, forensic lab confirms
'These people have nothing to do with cow welfare. Several beef companies had paid huge amounts to the BJP in the Electoral Bonds Scheme. Several beef factory owners are Hindu. All this is done to divide society on religious lines and go after the minorities,' he added.
Speaking to The Indian Express on Wednesday evening, Azad Samaj Party chief and MP Chandra Shekhar Aazad said: 'Those men who were beaten up brutally were repeatedly saying that it was not cow meat. It is the responsibility of the government to let legal businesses run in the state. This is also part of a legal business.'
On Tuesday, Aazad visited the residences of those who were assaulted and met the families.
'Who will pay for the social, mental, and physical damage done to these families? This system of mob rule has been encouraged by the government. This group (accused) used to run a racket, and collect a tax. Those who didn't pay them were punished by instigating a crowd, and this is what has happened in this case. The strictest action should be taken against such groups, and if it is not done, it can be considered that they run under patronage from the government,' he said.
Speaking to reporters, Congress MP from Saharanpur Imran Masood said: 'A joke was made of law and order, and they were beaten up. This was tragic, and the way the SHO saved the lives of those men. If he were not there, they wouldn't have survived. But, the way they were beaten up, and the way this behaviour of acting like goons. Is this how the rule of law will be established, that people are beaten and robbed on the road?'
Also Read | Complaint, counter-complaint filed in alleged cow vigilantism episode in Aligarh, 3 arrested
Asked about Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's claim of rule of law, Masood said: 'If the people who have beaten these men up are not goondas and mafia, then who is? You should shut down the meat factories. You are getting meat chopped on one side, and then you are doing this.'
Masood demanded the arrest of others, and said that the National Security Act should be slapped on the accused. 'The Congress will fight for them till the Supreme Court,' said Masood.
'Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has consistently demanded strict enforcement of anti-lynching provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, including life imprisonment or the death penalty. These lynchings are not isolated but a part of a deliberate campaign to weaken Muslims economically, politically, and socially, eroding our democracy. The government must act swiftly, and resolutely to uphold the values of justice, and human dignity and ensure that there is no recurrence of such incidents in the future,' said its vice-president, Malik Motasim Khan.
Last Saturday, cow vigilantes allegedly assaulted Akil, 43, Arbaaj, 38, Akeel, 35, and Nadeem, 32, with wooden and iron rods near Alhadadpur village in Aligarh, accusing them of transporting cow meat. The accused allegedly also set their vehicle on fire and stole their phones and money.
Four men — Vijay Gupta, Bhanu Pratap, Luv Kush, and Vijay Bajrangi — have been arrested in the case so far.
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