152 cows die in five months in Kanpur shelter, many sick
Remark came day after he denied incident
than a fourth of all cows at one of India’s richest and biggest bovine shelters died in the past five months and half are ill, putting the spotlight on the animal’s plight despite political hype on banning their slaughter.
Four of these deaths at the 128year-old Kanpur Gaushala occurred in the past week and doctors say the cows starved to death, triggering furore among local residents who consider the animal holy. The shelter holds 540 cows, 152 of whom have died. The society that manages the facility holds property worth more than ₹220 crore.
“The society is run by the who’s who of Kanpur, it gets crores of rupees in donation; where is the money going? This needs to be investigated,” said a senior member of society.
The protection of cows is a politically sensitive issue, especially in a clutch of BJP-ruled states that have strict statutes against cow slaughter. Many cow vigilante groups have assaulted people engaged in the cattle trade and accused of wanton violence but prominent politicians have spoken out in their favour.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is known to tend to a large population of cows at the Gorakhnath Temple, where he is the head priest, and has enforced a crackdown on illegal abattoirs. But critics say such measures unfairly target minority communities and no real measures to protect or nourish the bovine population are taken.
The Kanpur society was formed with sole criterion of taking care of stray cows but allegations of neglect and siphoning of funds were triggered after an autopsy of the four dead cows on Tuesday pointed at empty intestines and urinary bladder.
It means the cows hadn’t eaten anything nor did they drink water out of weakness, doctors say. “The conditions we have found are possible if the intake is negligible for prolonged period,” said Dr Dharmendra of the hospital.
NEW DELHI: Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday said the alleged lynching of a man in Rajasthan by cow vigilantes should not be viewed from a religious point of view as “criminals are just criminals”.
The comment came a day after he denied the incident occurred.
The opposition raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha amid noisy scenes for the second day in a row, seeking an apology from Naqvi for misleading the House on Thursday.
Naqvi assured the House that home minister Rajnath Singh was likely to make a statement over the incident on Monday.
“A criminal, a murderer, a hooligan should not be looked at as a Hindu or a Muslim. A criminal is a criminal,” Naqvi said.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad demanded Naqvi’s apology for “misleading the House” and also sought action against the self-styled “gau rakshaks” who were harassing and killing people in the name of cow protection.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge raised the matter in the Lok Sabha while party colleague Madhusudan Mistry raised it in the Rajya Sabha.
Mistry said the self-styled ‘gau rakshaks’ were harassing and killing people in the name of cow protection.
“The cow vigilante gang acted as if they have some extra-con- stitutional powers. They checked trucks to see if there were cows or calves — and if the owner was Hindu, they let them go,” he said.
“It is being done by an organised gang. Such gangs are present in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat; and now, they are in Uttar Pradesh. It is a complete breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state,” Mistry said as he was supported by other opposition leaders.
Congress MPs gathered near the chairman’s podium, demanding an adjournment. However, deputy chairman PJ Kurien, presiding over the proceedings, rejected the demand.
“One gets 14-day remand for slapping. But in this Rajasthan case, the accused was freed after a day. This government should take this House seriously,” Azad said.