Attacks, beatings and killings of Muslims in India over accusations of slaughtering cows, eating beef or transporting cattle are not new. Muslims have faced violence from hardline Hindu nationalist groups on suspicion of cattle smuggling, for carrying meat, or simply for trading livestock. In many of these cases the attackers call themselves “cow protectors” and take the law into their own hands.
In the latest case, a group of men stopped two Muslim traders and a driver who were transporting buffaloes in Damoh district, Madhya Pradesh, and beat them severely. The attackers are alleged to be members of a Hindu nationalist organisation. Police have arrested two people.
The attack took place on the evening of October 26 in Hardua village, under Hindoria police station.
Several videos of the assault have spread on social media. They show the two traders with their hands and feet tied being dragged across a field, then beaten with sticks by a group of men. Others are seen surrounding them and hitting them.
The two traders are Abid Qureshi and Hasan Qureshi, local buffalo dealers. According to police, a group of men blocked their path as they were carrying buffaloes in a vehicle.
Speaking to reporters from his hospital bed, Abid said they had shown the attackers the purchase receipts to prove the buffaloes were not stolen, but the men would not listen.
“They did not listen to us. We started running to save our lives, but they caught us. Even though we kept saying the buffaloes were not stolen, they beat us badly. We felt some relief only when the police arrived,” Abid said.
Abid had visible injuries on his face and other parts of his body. Two of the three injured men are being treated at a hospital in Damoh; the third has been sent to Jabalpur for further treatment.
Police have filed two cases. One, under provisions on cruelty to animals, names the two traders, the driver and the vehicle’s owner. The other was filed against unidentified people over the assault.
Damoh’s superintendent of police, Anand Kaladagi, told the news outlet Maktoob that two people had been arrested over the attack on the Muslim traders after being identified from video footage. He added that a case had also been filed against the traders.
The police chief said seven to eight buffaloes were being carried in a small van with room for only one or two animals, and that the animals were allegedly being transported in unhygienic and inhumane conditions.
Dharmendra Gujjar, officer in charge of Hindoria police station, also confirmed the two arrests and the case against the traders. Police are examining the video footage to identify others involved in the attack.
The Damoh attack is another in a series of assaults on Muslims in India linked to the transport and trade of livestock. Muslim traders, transport workers and ordinary people have been beaten to death on several earlier occasions on suspicion of cow slaughter or cattle smuggling.
Human Rights Watch and other international organisations have voiced concern over these attacks and called for those responsible to be brought to justice. In the Damoh case, however, police have filed a case against the victims as well as acting against the attackers, raising questions about the police’s role in prosecuting the assault and in the case and investigation against the victims.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report