Bound by right-wing ideology, they serve different organisations

They are young and committed to the cause of protecting the ‘holy cow’ even it means making life difficult for others and treading on too many toes.

Pankaj Pathak, district president of the Shiv Sena in Bareilly, is one such cow protector. The 27-year-old graduate joined the party six years ago as a volunteer with two of his close friends who later defected to similar groups.

Since September last year, the Shiv Sainiks Since then, Shiv Sainiks have dealt with many drivers whom they caught ferrying cattle through the district which serves as a supply link of the trade between central and western UP.

Pankaj Pathak is not one a of a kind. His friend Amit Rathore, 27, shares the same beliefs. The only difference is that he left the Shiv Sena and became the district president of the newly formed Hindu Sena in Bareilly. The group came into the limelight when its chief Vishnu Gupta ignited a row when he complained to the Delhi Police about beef being served in Kerala House in the national capital.

Talking about the activities of the group, Amit Rathore says, “Unless, we unite and show them that we will not tolerate these attacks on cows, this will continue.” He claims that his group of around 1500 men in the region have been told to ensure the cows are not sold to slaughterhouses. When asked about the recent incident in Una where four dalit men were flogged in public for skinning a dead cow, Rathore says, “It seems that no one is trying to find out what actually happened there. There must be another reason for the incident which led to the lynching.” Rathore takes pride in talking about how his leader Vishnu Gupta threw ink on Jammu and Kashmir MLA Engineer Rashid and the group’s attack on the Pakistan International Airlines office in Delhi.

Jitendra Sharma, another friend of Pankaj, left the Shiv Sena in 2011 to join a youth group founded by firebrand BJP leader Yogi Adityanath. Sharma is currently the regional secretary of the group which has over 3000 members and volunteers in the region.

According to these men, the people who sell cows are as responsible for the crime as the ones who slaughter or consume it. “How will they eat cow unless you sell your old cow to them? People who own cows should keep them at their homes when they become old and stop giving milk, else they should not keep cows at all,” says Jitendra.

The other aspect which unites the trio is their right-wing political orientation. Jitendra openly says firebrand BJP MP Yogi Adityanath as his idol and that he is ready to follow in the footsteps of his leader who is based in Gorakhpur.

Pankaj Pathak idolises Shiv Sena founder the late Balasaheb Thackeray. Amit Rathore, who is a relative of a local BJP leader, claims to have no links with any political party but feels that Hindus like him have found a voice after the change in government at the centre.

The issue is close to the heart of every Hindu. I am not saying that violence is good but we also need to make an example of people who commit these atrocities. JITENDRA SHARMA, Hindu Yuva Vahini leader