Message to gau rakshaks: My name is Pehlu Khan and I am not a butcher

The attack on a group of dairy farmers by gau rakshaks in Rajasthan led to the death of a person named Pehlu Khan.

New Delhi, April 6: Death of Pehlu Khan, the 55-year-old dairy farmer from Jaisinghpur village in Nuh tehsil of Mewat, Haryana, brings back the memory of 2015 Dadri (in Uttar Pradesh) mob lynching where Mohammad Akhlaq was killed for allegedly storing 'beef' in his refrigerator.

The dairy farmer and others, including his two sons, were attacked by a group of gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) in Behror area of Alwar, Rajasthan on April 1 on suspicion of smuggling cows for slaughter.

While others survived, Pehlu succumbed to his injuries after the brutal attack. The accused attacked the victims on suspicion of cow smuggling which is illegal in Rajasthan.

According to a report published by Indian Express, Khan's sons claimed that they were attacked in spite of showing the 'legal' receipt -- having the stamp of the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (serial number 89942 dated April 1, 2017) -- of purchase of a milch cow to the cow vigilantes.

Actually, Pehlu, his two sons and others went to Rajasthan from Haryana to buy a milch buffalo, but the deceased ended up buying a cow, as the cow seller extracted 12 litres of milk in front of Pehlu and offered him a good deal.

"That was the worst decision ever. It took my father's life," Pehlu's son Irshad told Indian Express. Pehlu's other son, Aarif, also accompanied him in his 'last journey' to Rajasthan.

"My father was in a pickup truck with a Rajasthan number plate, along with Azmat, who is also from our village. There were two cows and two calves in the truck. Irshad, I and another villager were in the other pickup truck which had three cows and three calves," Aarif added.

Pehlu, his two sons and other two men were dragged out from their vehicles and were mercilessly beaten by the cow vigilantes. The worst part is that the Rajasthan police have registered a first information report against them for illegally transporting cattle for slaughter after a complaint was filed against them.

The death of Pehlu has come at a time when a cry for ban against 'meat' and 'cow slaughter' has raised its 'deadly fangs' with a renewed vigour across the country. Critics of meat ban and cow slaughter say that a 'particular community' has become the target of vigilante groups mostly supported by Hindu organisations.

Like in the Bollywood movie, My Name is Khan, where the protagonist (played by actor Shah Rukh Khan) Rizwan Khan repeatedly mouths the dialogue --'My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist'-- to stress the fact that all Muslims are not terrorists, similarly, currently in India perhaps all Khans and other Muslims have to carry a placard saying--'My name is Khan (or Ali) and I am not a cow smuggler or a butcher'.

OneIndia News