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Two Muslim Women Thrashed For Carrying Beef, Policemen Watch As Mute Audience
27 July 2016 9:21 AM GMT
In yet another grisly incident of mob justice over suspected beef being carried by two Muslim women for sale in the market, we witness the “stand by” effect among spectators who merely video record the incident. To add fuel to the fire, the police stood and watched, doing little to disperse the mob.
The incident:
As reported by NDTV, the police had been tipped off about two Muslim women allegedly carrying beef bought in Joara to be sold in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. On receiving this news, they approached the railway station, 350 km from the state capital Bhopal, to investigate the allegation against the women.
However, when the cow vigilantes present at the railway station got whiff of the rumour, they took matters in their own hands. Instead of letting the police do their work in a legal manner, the mob cornered the women, slapped, kicked and abused them while the police just stood by and watched.
Moreover, the stupefied spectators remained just that – mere spectators. One of them video recorded the entire incident which shows that the policemen made only half hearted attempts to rescue the women from the clutches of the crowd or protecting them from the blows. All the while the cow vigilantes are seen shouting the slogan, “Gau Mata Ki Jai (Hail holy cow)”. The sloganeering and hitting continued for almost half an hour till one of the women collapses on the ground. It is only then that the police intervened in a plausible manner and led them away.
Examination of meat:
A consignment of around 30 kg of meat recovered from the women was examined by a local doctor who declared that the meat was not beef but buffalo meat.
Women still charged:
Thanks to the examination of the meat by the local doctor, the two women have not been charged with carrying beef for sale. However, they are still charged for carrying the meat to sell it since they do not have the required permit to do the same.
Meanwhile, the people who assaulted the women, or the policemen who stood by and watched the entire incident have not been taken to task.
At the same time, the state Home Minister, Bhupendra Singh asserted today, “No can take law in their own hands. A probe will be conducted.”
Not the first such incident:
In the past one year we have witnessed the debate on beef consumption gaining momentum with critics opining for as well as against the controversial topic. Many states have banned beef consumption in view of Hindu sentiments as Hindus regard cow to be holy and eating its meat to be sacrilegious. Many critics of the beef ban opine that it is a discrimination against Muslims and many religious minorities for whom beef is a cheap and reliable source of protein.
The raging debate took a gruesome turn in another instance of mob violence in September last year when Mohammad Akhlaq was dragged out of his home in northern Uttar Pradesh over an alleged rumour of storing beef in his house. He was beaten to death by around 100 people, leaving the locality communally volatile. The Dadri lynching was reported by The Logical Indian and can be viewed through the following links:
https://thelogicalindian.com/
On 13th July, The Logical Indian also aired a video which showed Dalit men being flogged, tied to an SUV and paraded for skinning a dead cow in Una in Gujarat. The video can be viewed here:
The Logical Indian community is appalled at the intolerance shown by Indian citizens on the basis of a false rumour. Whether the incident was against religious sentiments or not, taking laws in one’s hands can never be justified else the law of the land will cease to hold any water. It will only further increase the communal tension in the country. Had the mob waited for the meat to be inspected by the local doctor, they would have discovered that the meat was not beef but meat of buffaloes, thus preventing the uncalled for assault on the victims. We urge the state government to take prompt action against those responsible for the mob attack and those policemen who failed to save the women.
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