‘Cops took me out of ICU, I slept at police station’
is something that not only comes naturally to 56-year-old Mohammed Yunus, but is also the sole source of livelihood for his family.
Every month, Yunus spends around ₹50,000 to get the best quality fodder for his cattle. A ceiling fan in the cow shed at his house swirls, bringing muchneeded reprieve to the bovines from the searing heat.
Sitting at his house, Yunus is a worried man. His life has been in complete disarray for the last few days and Yunus can’t stop pondering over the fact that he could’ve been killed too — all because of a cow.
“I saw Pehlu Khan being beaten by a mob of gau rakshaks near Behror (on Delhi-Alwar highway) in the evening on April 1. I was numb with fear when I saw an unconscious Azmat (Khan) lying on the road and the crowd beating him with hockey sticks. I still can’t believe that I managed to escape death that day,” says Yunus.
A dairy farmer in Mewat’s Jaisinghpur village, Yunus went to the same cattle fair in Jaipur where Pehlu Khan had gone with his sons to purchase milch cattle.
As they were returning, a mob of cow vigilantes intercepted Khan and few others and started them beating mercilessly. While Azmat sustained several injuries, Pehlu died later in hospital.
“I escaped by turning the minitruck onto a kutcha road and taking a different route. Fortunately, the gau rakshaks didn’t notice me otherwise I would have been dead as well,” said Yunus.
Dairy farming has been the occupation of this Muslim-dominant village for the last half decade with over 800 out of 1,000 families engaged in the profession.
After the death of Khan, the residents are angry over the fact that a man from a village of cow lovers was accused of smuggling the animal for slaughter.
“Just because we are Muslims, it does not mean that the cow is not dear to us. Dairy farming is the main occupation in this village and other adjacent hamlets. The way we care for cows and do everything in our ability to ensure their comfort is even rare for many gaushalas (cow shelters) where cows are often reported to be dying because of lack of facilities,” said Jaibin, another villager.
In August last year, over 500 bovines died at the governmentrun Hingonia Cow Rehabilitation Centre in Rajasthan because of extremely poor living conditions.
As dairy farmer Umar Mohammed pats a 10-day-old calf affectionately, one could sense the pain in his voice.
“For ages, we have gone to the cattle fair in Jaipur because the animals are available there are at cheaper rates. The fair is known for the Shekhawati breed of cows, popular among dairy farmers. If a dairy farmer is lynched because he bought a cow to increase milk produce, then what else is there left to say,” said Mohammed. Abdul Qaum sits patiently at the dairy house at Jaisinghpur where villagers deposit their milk produce. Qaum measures the fat content in each farmer’s milk produce before depositing it in a big container.
“Every day, over 1,000 litres of milk is produced here. Most of the dairy farmers are Muslims. Twice a day, the milk produce is accumulated and is then sent to dairies in Delhi, Faridabad and Gurgaon,” says Qaum. He oversees the process.
The villagers say that their routine visits to Jaipur to buy cattle from the fair has now become a journey full of fear and uncertainty.
“The gau rakshaks are robbers who try to loot and beat people on the pretext of cow protection. Real cattle smugglers are let away while dairy farmers such as us have to pay with our lives. Don’t Muslims drink milk from cows or look after them? Then why aren’t we considered as gausevaks,” asks Mustaq Ahmed, another dairy farmer from adjacent village Kotla.
In another corner of the village, Arif, the youngest son of Pehlu Khan, looks on, his eyes still red with the injuries he sustained on April 1. Now that his father is no more, he ponders over the future of his family. “We had one buffalo that we sold in the fair and bought a milch cow in exchange. The gau rakshaks took all our money and the animals were sent to gaushalas even though we produced receipts issued by the Jaipur Municipal Corporation. We don’t know what we will do now,” he says.
In the village, children could be seen playing with the cows as a motley group of people assemble near television sets, watching media reports on the attack by gau rakshaks. None of them could fathom how a man who remained a dairy farmer all his life was labelled a cattle smuggler one fine day and killed.
A week ago, Azmat Khan used to scoop his one-year-old daughter in his arms and play with her for hours together.
Today, after being beaten mercilessly by a mob of gau rakshaks (cow protection activists) and then spending an entire day without treatment at the Behror police station, the 22-year-old needs help even to stand. He spends his time lying on a cot, staring blankly at the griefstricken faces of relatives and – on occasion – resignedly answering questions posed by mediapersons visiting his Mewat residence.
“My brother was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a private hospital after losing consciousness in the attack. Two days later, he and three others were brought to the police station – where they were kept for an entire day without treatment,” said Yousuf, his brother, adding that Khan’s condition worsened because of that.
Khan and a few others were attacked by gau rakshaks on April 1, while they were returning to Jaisinghpur village after buying milch cows from a Jaipur market. One of the victims, Pehlu Khan (55), succumbed to his injuries later.
“I was made to sleep on the police station floor. They didn’t
The National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the Centre and the Rajasthan government over the lynching of a man allegedly by cow vigilantes in Alwar.
The commission termed the incident as “painful” and “serious violation” of human rights saying “self-proclaimed” volunteers are creating an atmosphere of fear in the give any reason for bringing me there, and didn’t let me return to the hospital either,” he told HT.
Khan was released the following day.
“After the death of Pehlu Khan, we went to the Behror station and begged police to release my brother as well as the other three. Azmat was in such bad state that he had to be admitted to another hospital immediately afterwards,” said Yousuf.
Khan and his family haven’t heard from the police since then.
“Here in Mewat, Hindus and Muslims have lived in harmony for hundreds of years. We still can’t bring ourselves to believe this. It’s shocking that Azmat, all of 22, has been bedridden,” said Mangal Ram, a neighbour.
Azmat’s relatives are yet to come to terms with the events that occurred over the last few days.
“Gau rakshaks attacked innocent people, and killed one of them. Instead of arresting them, police took one of the severely injured victims from the hospital ICU and kept them in custody for an entire day without treatment. What kind of law enforcement is this?” asked Haji Mohammedin, another close friend of the family.
Behror deputy superintendent of police Parmal Singh denied the charge.
“This is a false accusation. Why will we take someone out of the ICU?” he asked.
MOB ATTACK AND AFTER Pehlu Khan was from a family and a village that loves its cows — their only source of income; villagers are still in shock at his death Had the state and the central governments taken steps against this violence by selfstyled gau rakshaks then the apex court may not have interfered in such a matter It is obvious that police is acting under the pressure of CM n HM of #Rajasthan...There should be an impartial inquiry of the whole incident by the CBI
society.
In the notice issued to the Rajasthan chief decretary, the commission has called for a detailed report in the matter along with action taken against the culprits.
A notice has also been issued to the Union Home Secretary, calling for a response as to what steps have been taken or proposed to be taken by the Centre to deal with such incidents in the country.
They have been asked to respond within four weeks.