Cow Lynching Timeline: Steady Increase Under BJP With A Spike in 2017

NEW DELHI: Since 2014, cow lynching incidents have been on the rise in India. In collating the list one was quite unprepared for the large number of incidents that have struck terror in India’s hinterland. And if the reports from regional sources are to be added, the figures will be much higher.

Here the effort has been to put together a timeline of cow lynching incidents from credible sources. The Citizen graphs are based on IndiaSpend data:

August 14, 2014 — Delhi A 50-strong mob thrashed two Muslim men running a meat shop at Dundahera village, accusing them of selling beef

August 23, 2014 — Mangalore, Karnataka Three men were transporting 13 cattle when a drunk mob attacked them, shouting "Jai Shri Ram".

October 10, 2014 — Dabhel village, Gujarat Police attacked by a mob in Dabhel village on Surat-Navsari Road in Gujarat. The police had gone to check cow slaughter in the region when locals attacked them leaving three policemen injured.

Law: March 4, 2015 Maharashtra government banned beef. Anyone found in possession of beef would face five years of jail and a Rs 10,000 fine. While a 1976 law prevented the slaughter of cows in Maharashtra, the new Act banned the slaughter of bulls as well as bullocks.

Law: March 16, 2015 Haryana passed a stringent Bill banning the sale of beef. The law mandated five years of rigorous imprisonment for selling beef — the same as in Maharashtra — and a fine of up to Rs 50,000.

May 30, 2015 - Birloka in Khimsar tehsil of Rajasthan's Nagaur district Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi, 60, was killed after rumours spread that he had killed 200 cows for a feast. Pictures of carcasses were spread on social media. Young men gathered in the thousands in the fields of Kumhari village and brutally murdered him.

August 29, 2015 — Chilla Village, Mayur Vihar, Delhi Residents clashed with four truck drivers who were reportedly transferring buffaloes to a slaughter house in Ghazipur.

September 28, 2015 — Bisada Village, Dardi A mob lynched Mohammed Akhlaq for killing a cow and consuming its meat on Eid.

October 6, 2015 — Karnataka Bajrang Dal activists attacked a cattle trader with metal rods on a rumour about a stolen cow.

October 9, 2015 — Manipur District, UP A mob went on a rampage following rumours that a cow had been slaughtered

October 9, 2015 — Udhampur, Srinagar The cleaner of a truck, Zahid Ahmad of Anantnag, died of burns suffered during the petrol-bombing of the Valley-bound vehicle by a local mob protesting a “beef party” hosted by independent MLA Engineer Rashid in Srinagar a few days earlier.

October 16, 2015 — Lawasa village, Sirmour district, Himachal Pradesh Noman, 20, was lynched allegedly by villagers who chased the truck in which he was ferrying cows to Saharanpur

December 3, 2015 — Palwal District, Haryana Violent clashes broke out in Haryana’s Palwal district when villagers stopped a truck allegedly carrying cow meat.

January 13, 2016 — Khirkiya railway station, Madhya Pradesh Cow protection group attacked a couple over allegations that they were carrying beef.

March 18, 2016 — Latehar district, Jharkhand Majloom Ansari and 15-year-old Imtiyaz Khan were beaten and hanged from a tree. They were transporting cows purchased from a cattle fair. The suspects belong to a local Gau Rakshak unit. One of them is also alleged to be a Bajrang Dal activist.

April 2, 2016 — Kurukshetra, Haryana Mustain Abbas was killed, allegedly by Gau Raksha Dal members while he was transporting a buffalo. The High Court of Punjab and Haryana ordered the CBI to probe the murder on May 9.

LAW: May 6, 2016 — The Bombay High Court ruled that it will no longer be illegal to consume or keep imported beef but upheld the Maharashtra government’s ban on slaughter of cows and bullocks.

June 2, 2016 — Pratapgarh, Rajasthan A mob of cow protection activists brutally assaulted alleged cattle smugglers and took pictures of his naked body after he fell unconscious.

June 10, 2016 - Gurgaon, Haryana Gurgaon Bajrang Dal convener and a Gau Raksha Dal (cow protection group) volunteer were injured when men transporting cows opened fire. Abhishek Gaur and Harpal Singh, the gau rakshaks, chased a vehicle in which smugglers were allegedly transporting beef. A case of attempt to murder was filed against the unidentified smugglers.

July 10, 2016 — Koppa, Karnataka Bajrang Dal members brutally attacked a Dalit family — claiming there was beef inside their house.

July 11, 2016 — Una, Gir Somnath district, Gujrat Seven members of a Dalit family were beaten up by about 35 gau rakshaks for skinning a dead cow

July 26, 2016 — Mandsaur railway station, Madhya Pradesh Two Muslim women were beaten up on suspicion of carrying beef.

July 30, 2016 — Muzaffarnagar district, UP A mob attacked the house of a Muslim family on suspicion of cow slaughter

August 5, 2016 — Lucknow Two Dalits were thrashed for refusing to remove cow carcasses. The Dalit workers were on protest against the growing attacks on the community since the Una attack.

August 18, 2016 — Udupi, Karnataka BJP worker Praveen Poojary was killed by a Hindu right-wing organisation over suspicion of cow smuggling

August 24, 2016 — Mewat, Harayana Gau Rakshaks killed a Muslim couple in their 30s – Rasheedan and Ibrahim. Two other members of their family, Ayesha and Jafruddin, were seriously injured, A 21-year-old woman and 16-year-old girl from the family were gang-raped for allegedly eating beef.

September 13, 2016 — Ahmedabad, Gujarat A 29-year-old Muslim youth, Mohammad Ayub, was attacked by Gau Rakshaks in Ahmedabad and was brutally thrashed to death.

September 14, 2016 — Bannerghatta, Karnataka Nazir Ahmed, who has a farmhouse in Bannerghatta, and his sons were wrongly detained by the police on charges of slaughtering a cow. Outside the station, more than 20 gau rakshaks, who had lodged a complaint with the police, gathered to protest. It was later found that two oxen had been slaughtered, and not a cow.

September 21, 2016 — Kirari village, Delhi Two injured; Mob beats up two men for carrying buffalo remains

September 24, 2016 — Karja village, Gujarat A pregnant Dalit woman was allegedly attacked by upper caste people after her family refused to clear animal carcasses from the fields in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district.

April 1, 2017 Alwar, Rajasthan Pehlu Khan, a resident of Haryana, was beaten by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan’s Alwar district Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal

April 16, 2017 — Karumallor, Kerala A case against 14 BJP and RSS workers on the charge of attacking a house where a cow was allegedly slaughtered on the eve of Easter

April 20, 217 — Assam Two men, in their 20s, were allegedly killed by a mob of cow vigilantes, after being accused of trying to steal cows for slaughter.

April 23, 2017 - Giridih, Jharkhand Stone-throwing by a mob that had gathered on hearing rumours that cows were being taken for slaughter in three vehicles

April 23, 2017 — Delhi Three men transporting buffaloes were injured after being beaten by a group stating they were members of the animal rights activist group People for Animals.

April 24, 2017 — Hosadu, Karnataka Accused of slaughtering a cow

April 24, 2017 — Jammu and Kashmir A family of five, including a 9-year old girl, were attacked and injured; police arrested 11 so-called cow vigilantes in connection with the attack.

April 29, 2017 — Saharsa, Bihar A driver of a pick-van is suspected to have been blinded in his left eye after he was attacked for allegedly scaring a cow by honking the horn

May 1, 2017 — Nagaon District, Assam Two Muslim men were lynched in Nagaon district of Assam on suspicion of stealing cows. While the police managed to rescue the men, both of them died of their injuries.

May 12, 2017 — Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh Cow vigilantes thrashed five people who were caught illegally slaughtering a buffalo inside the premises of a private dairy

May 14, 2017 — Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh A man was brutally assaulted by suspected vigilantes on the suspicion of injuring a cow

May 24, 2017 — Bhubaneshwar, Odisha A group of more than 20 people raided the parcel van of the Kochuveli-Guwahati Express in Bhubaneswar railway station alleging cattle smuggling

May 26, 2017 — Malegaon, Maharashtra Attackers hurl abuses at two men force them to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’

May 30, 2017 - IIT Madras Attacked for allegedly eating beef at one of the vegetarian messes in the campus.

June 12, 2017 —Barmer district, Rajasthan Around 50 vigilantes targeted officials of the Tamil Nadu government transporting cows from Jaisalmer to their state, pelted stones at a truck and blocked National Highway 15 on suspicion of cattle smuggling.

June 14, 2017 — Chaprsi village, Uttar Pradesh Two policemen were allegedly injured during a clash with residents of Chaprasi village when they had gone to raid a house over allegations of cow slaughter.

June 20, 2017 — Etah, Uttar Pradesh Three alleged thieves ("cow smugglers") were stripped, tied to a tree, and then beaten up mercilessly.

June 22, 2017 — Islampur, Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal Three Muslim men were lynched for allegedly trying to steal cows. A police complaint was made by the mother of the deceased Nasir Haque. According to the Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar Bharat Rathod, the police arrested 3 people and were conducting further investigation.

June 23, 2017 — Delhi-Ballabhgarh train Four Muslims were lynched allegedly over rumours of eating beef. According to the police, the victims had arguments over meat with their co-passengers who attacked them with knife

June 27, 2017 — Giridih district, Jharkhand Over a 100-strong mob attacks a Muslim man on the suspicion that he had slaughtered a cow after allegedly finding the carcass of a bovine near his house

June 29, 2017 —-Bajartand, Jharkhand Alimuddin, alias Asgar Ansari, was beaten to death by a mob, allegedly for carrying beef. According to Additional Director General of police RK Mallik, the murder was premeditated.

- In the first six months of 2017, 20 cow-terror attacks were reported, more than 75 percent of the 2016 figure, which was the worst year for such violence since 2010.

- These attacks - sometimes collectively referred to as gautankwad, for cow and terrorism, on social media - were reported from 19 of 29 Indian states, with Uttar Pradesh (10), Haryana (9), Gujarat (6), Karnataka (6), Madhya Pradesh (4), Delhi (4) and Rajasthan (4) reporting the highest number of cases.

- No more than 21 per cent (13 of 63) of the cases were reported from southern or eastern states (including Bengal and Odisha), but almost half (six of 13) were from Karnataka. The only incident reported in the northeast was the murder of two men in Assam on April 30, 2017.

- Of the 63 attacks over eight years, 61 (96.8 per cent) occurred, after Modi's government came to power (2014-2017), with 2016 reporting the most attacks: 25. In the first six months of 2017, 20 attacks were reported-more than 75 per cent of the 2016 figure.

- In 23 attacks, the attackers were mobs or groups of people who belonged to Hindu groups, such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and local Gau Rakshak Samitis.

- Of the 63 attacks since 2010, 33 (52.4 per cent) were based on rumours.