National Security Act Against 3 For 'Cow Slaughter'; First Time After Congress Came To Power In MP

The National Security Act (NSA) was invoked on February 5, 2019, against three persons accused of killing a cow near Kharkali village, Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh, reported The Hindu. The incident took place just three days after the newly elected Congress government decided to set up 1,000 Gaushalas for stray cattle in the backdrop of the rising cow menace. The police said that this is the first time NSA is being invoked against those accused of cow slaughter since the Congress won the state election, reported the Hindustan Times.

The Khandwa Superintendent of Police, Siddharth Bahuguna said that they have received information about the slaughtering of a cow near Kharkali village four days ago. But by the time the police team reached the spot, the accused fled. However, the police found the cow carcass on February 1, 2019.

On the same day, police arrested Nadeem and Shakeel. Nadeem and Shakeel are brothers and are butchers. The cops caught Azam on February 4, 2019, from Kharkali under various sections of Prohibitions of Cow Slaughter Act. The police produced the three before a local court on the same day. The court sentenced them to be jailed under NSA and other relevant sections of IPC reported The Hindu. Hindustan Times reported that Bhugana said that the three were booked under the NSA to maintain peace in the communally sensitive area. Earlier they were booked under

What Both Parties Has To Say?

Congress spokesperson J P Dhanopia said that Chief Minister Kamal Nath has asked district and police administration to do whatever is required to maintain law and order. He further said that such actions will be taken in future as the government is sensitive towards cow-related issues. Counteracting it BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said that Congress is just copying what the previous BJP state government did.

What is the NSA?

The National Security Act (NSA) of 1980 is an act of the Indian Parliament which was brought to action on September 23, 1980. It is meant to provide for preventive detention in certain cases and for matters connected therewith. This act extends to all over India, apart from the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It contains 18 sections and empowers the Central and state governments to detain a person to prevent him/her from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of India, the relation of India with foreign countries and the maintenance of public order. This act was passed during the then Charan Singh Government. NSA provides the officials with an unambiguous power to detain any accused for at least one year without providing any chargesheet in court.

The Logical Indian take

It seems the Congress which has been speaking about how BJP is trying to polarise the country using cow jumped on the wagon when they got the opportunity and invoked the NSA. Incidents like these capture the very mood of the country that is ready to take the most severe of the measures justifying the holy sanctity of cows and also how opportunist parties are ready to use the law to please the populist demands. In this case, there was no breach of security which could lead to the invocation of the NSA.

We live in a country where cows are abandoned when their milch days are over and they’re left to feed on plastic bags or are run over by cars. The Logical Indian condemns the actions taken up by the police of Madhya Pradesh in invoking the National Security Act against the three accused of cow slaughter.

Also Read: Uttar Pradesh: Police Use National Security Act Against Three For Cow Slaughter