Alwaght- Human Rights Watch has expressed concern over rising brutal attacks in India by self-appointed "cow protectors" against Muslims and lower castes over rumors that they sold, bought or killed cows for beef.
In a statement on Friday, Human Rights Watch urged the Indian government to intervene and promptly probe attacks and prosecute those responsible.
The rights body says that since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government came to power in 2015, at least 10 Muslims have been killed in mob attacks related to allegations over slaughtering cows. Although Modi has condemned the attacks, this has not stopped brutal attacks against Muslims.
The anti-Muslim vigilantes are linked to extremist Hindu groups affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Hindus consider cows as sacred and are opposed to their slaughter for beef.
Meanwhile, a government proposal to tag millions of cows in the country following reports of attacks by Hindu vigilante groups on some Muslims in northern India has left leaders of the Muslim community worried.
On Monday, the government told the Supreme Court in the capital New Delhi that if a unique identification number is allocated to every cow in India, it could help against the animal’s smuggling and slaughter.
The pitch was made during the Supreme Court’s hearing of a petition to stop the smuggling of cattle for slaughter at beef export units.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a pro-independence Kashmiri leader and chief cleric of Kashmir, accused the Indian government of providing legitimacy to Hindu vigilante groups' murders and attacks by advocating for such identification tags for cows. He said while the Indian government should be making laws to protect the lives of minorities from the Hindu extremists who are using the cow issue to kill and terrorize Muslims, it is instead making laws that make it clear that cows are more of Indian citizens than the Indian Muslims.
