Four members of a Hindu extremist group were arrested by police in Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, after they slaughtered a cow near Agra city and tried to frame Muslims for the act to incite hostility towards them.
Cows are considered sacred in Hinduism, and their slaughter is prohibited in many Indian states, including Uttar Pradesh, where conviction can lead to a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to approximately $6,000.
Jitendra Kushwaha, a senior leader of the right-wing group All India Hindu Mahasabha (AIHM), lodged a police complaint against four Muslim men, claiming he witnessed them slaughtering a cow on March 30. The AIHM even held a protest demanding the arrest of the "Muslim culprits" - Mohammad Rizwan and his three sons.
After an investigation, police found that the four Muslims had nothing to do with the crime, and that Sanjay Jat, an AIHM spokesperson, had devised the conspiracy to slaughter the cow. On April 8, 2023, the police announced that the four Muslims were innocent, and Hindu activists were the culprits and would be arrested. Jitendra Kushwaha, Sanjay Jat, and a few others were present near the location of the cow slaughter, according to call records, not those named in the police complaint.
In recent years, during the festival of Ram Navami in India, communal tensions have often erupted between Hindus and Muslims. An unidentified police officer in Agra told The Telegraph, "The cow was slaughtered on the eve of Ram Navami to disturb social harmony."
According to the Voice of America, Delhi University professor and social activist Apoorvanand stated, "This has been the modus operandi of the Hindu supremacist bodies for a long time. There are numerous cases of their people throwing beef in temples. Members of various Hindu supremacist groups have been caught planting the national flag of Pakistan at different places in India. And, they blamed all the acts on Muslims, to incite Hindus against Muslims. They can go to any extent to defame Muslims and then attack them using that pretext."
Social activist Malay Tewari, based in Kolkata, said that Hindu right-wing group activists have carried out scores of "false-flag operations" in India. "Through such false-flag operations, the Hindu right-wing groups, who work like foot soldiers of India's ruling BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party], aim to whip up anti-Muslim passion to polarize Hindus against Muslims. India is a Hindu-majority country. A polarization on communal lines immensely helps Hindu nationalist BJP garner more votes from the majority community," Tewari told VOA.
The case also highlights the bias against Muslims in cow slaughter cases in India, where they are usually given the strictest punishment of jail terms and fines. Tewari said, "Let us see if the Hindu right-wing activists in the Agra case are awarded the same level of punishment, too."
Hello, the comments you share on our site are a valuable resource for other users. Please respect other users and different opinions. Do not use rude, offensive, derogatory, or discriminatory language.
The floor is all yours.
