“Cow protectors will just inform the cow protection task force of police to stop any cow smuggling or cow slaughter,”  cow commission chief and RSS ideologue Baani Ram Mangla told the Times of India.

A list of 100 cow protectors will be given identity cards ahead of Independence Day following police verification, the report added. 

The Una incident where four Dalit youths were beaten up in possessing beef:

But Navin Kumar, General Secretary of the Bhartiya Gau Raksha Dal who also handles the Haryana cow protection division, told ScoopWhoop that they are yet to receive any official intimation from the government in this regard.

“Identity cards will definitely prove to be a great advantage. The police will now know from whom they can get information regarding cow smuggling and slaughter. This will also expose those who break law and order in the name of Gau Raksha,” Kumar added.

He, however, said that those who wanted to do ‘gau sewa’ would not need certification from any organisation.

Identity cards for gau rakshaks is not a new concept. Cow protectors in Rajasthan also have similar cards. It is, however, uncertain whether these cards are issued by the Rajasthan government. 

The Haryana announcement comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that those who take law and order into their own hands in the name of cow protection must be ‘exposed, isolated and punished’. 

His comments came in response to a wave of anger over the beating of a group of Dalits in Gujarat by gau rakshaks because they had been skinning the carcass of a dead cow. 

A perceived increase in the number of such incidents across the country has put the government on the back foot with questions being raised on its silence on the issue. 

Gurgaon Gau Raksha Dal forces ‘beef transporters’ to eat cow dung and drink cow urine:

However, Navin Kumar told ScoopWhoop that he was of the opinion that such incidents are a part of larger ‘political conspiracy. 

“Dalits have always been the front-runners in cow protection. The whole argument that gau raksha is an excuse to harm Dalits is completely wrong,” he said.

“No one has the right to indulge in violence. But at the same time, one also does not have the right to hurt other people’s religious sentiments,” he said adding that the media remains silent when gau rakshaks are killed at the hands of smugglers.

(Feature image is representational : PTI)