Our Correspondent / New Delhi
Members in the Rajya Sabha today expressed deep concern over the killing of a Muslims man in Alwar district of Rajasthan allegedly by a mob of cow vigilantes. Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien asked the government to probe the matter and inform the House about the entire facts.
“Let me know whether it is a fact or not. I am asking the Minister to convey to the Home Minister to inquire and give a report to the House. I want to know the truth of it,” Mr. Kurien said and proceeded with other listed Zero Hour mentions.
Members of other opposition parties joined the issue with Mr. Mistry claiming similar incidents were taking place in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat as also Uttar Pradesh, all ruled by BJP.
But Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi rejected the allegations and said it was a very sensitive issue, but “no such incident has happened, the way the matter is being presented here.”
“A message should not be sent out that the House supports cow slaughter,” he said, and added that “the state government has refuted the allegations. We do not justify hooliganism.”
Leader of Oppositon and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said “I am extremely sorry that the minister is so ill-informed. Even the New York Times has reported (on it) and the minister does not know… I have not come across such an insensitive government.”
Amid contradictory statements about the alleged incident by the Opposition and the Government, Mr. Kurien said the Chair has to be convinced whether the issue raised by Congress member Madhusudan Mistry was true or not.
“The Minister said no such an incident happened,” Mr. Kurien said adding that there were two versions of the incident which have been brought before him.
Pehlu Khan, a dairy owner, and four of his companions were attacked and beaten while they were on their way back to Haryana after buying cows at a Jaipur fair. They reportedly produced documents to show they had bought the cows for milk, but whether these were valid – which is being investigated now by cops – became irrelevant as the mob chased, kicked and punched them.
Right after the incident, none of the attackers were arrested. The police, instead, filed cases against the men who were attacked and beaten unconscious, accusing them of smuggling cows. Three attackers were arrested last night.
After Pehlu Khan died on Tuesday night and a mobile video of the attack went viral online, a murder case was filed, but the attackers were still not named.
Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said both sides were to blame, and described the deadly assault as “manhandling”.
“Smuggling of cows is a crime in Rajasthan, which is why a case has been filed against them. We have filed a case against the other party too, for manhandling those transporting cows,” Mr Kataria told a TV channel.