NEW DELHI: Indian police said Saturday one man was killed and three injured in an attack by a mob while they were skinning a dead ox, in the latest case of so-called cow lynching.
The animal is revered by Hindus and according to Human Rights Watch, 44 people died in cow-related violence between May 2015 and December last year by Hindu vigilantes.
Opponents of Prime Minister Narendra Modi say that such groups have become emboldened since his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in 2014.
The latest incident happened in the eastern state of Jharkhand late on Thursday when men from a local Christian community were skinning the carcass of an ox in a field.
“The men were armed with iron rods and sticks and attacked the group of skinners brutally,” said M L Meena, a senior Jharkhand police official.
The three men injured in the attack were sent to hospital. Two men have been arrested for alleged murder and five more were on the run, Meena said.
It was unclear whether the accused were part of a Hindu vigilante group or acted on their own initiative, he added, saying the four men attacked were from a local tribal group and had been charged with illegal cow slaughter.
Meena said the charges were based on a complaint by a Hindu villager who said he witnessed the slaughter of the ox.
“So far the investigation has showed the ox died naturally. We are doing a thorough probe,” he said.
Cow slaughter and the consumption of beef is illegal in mineral-rich Jharkhand — and in 19 other states — but restricted slaughter of other bovines like buffalo and ox is allowed.
Modi, who is running for a second term in elections that began on Thursday and run until May 19, has condemned cow-related violence.
Under his government, laws about cow slaughter are now applied more strictly and punishments have increased.
In 2017 his government tried to ban the cattle trade for slaughter nationwide, only for it to be rejected by the Supreme Court.
Aside from the violence, which is mostly directed at India’s minority Muslim community and low-caste Dalits, the number of stray cows in India has also risen sharply.
This is because the fear of prosecution or violence has led to farmers abandoning old and sick cows instead of selling them for slaughter.
Last year a top minister in Modi’s cabinet was criticized for celebrating eight people convicted of lynching a Muslim cattle trader after they were released on bail.
Last week a Muslim man was brutally assaulted by a mob in north eastern Assam state over allegations he was selling beef. There is no prohibition on cow slaughter or beef consumption in the state.
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Man killed in new cow lynching in India
Man killed in new cow lynching in India
- HRW says 44 people died in cow-related violence since May 2015 by Hindu vigilantes.
- Cow slaughter and the consumption of beef is illegal in 20 states of India
C. Africa’s displaced youth bet on vote for brighter future
BIRAO: Amani Abdramane bustled around her donkey in the makeshift camp where she lives in the Central African Republic.
In this northern part of the country, on the edge of the Sahel, the sun is scorching and sand is swallowing the last traces of vegetation.
The 18-year-old adjusted a pink scarf covering her head and shoulders and pondered what she wanted from Sunday’s general election that will choose local and regional officials, members of parliament and a new president.
“I hope the person I vote for brings peace,” she said of the seven candidates vying to become head of state.
They include President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who is seeking a third consecutive term.
Displaced by decades of conflict, young people like Abdramane who live in camps around the town of Birao in the far northeast, see the elections as a chance for a better future.
Abdramane fled ethnic violence in El-Sisi, her home village seven kilometers (four miles) from Birao, in 2015 with her mother and eight siblings.
Her father had been killed a few months earlier.
“I just want my brothers, sisters and me to be able to go to school,” she said.
- First-time voters -
Abdramane had just completed her second year of school, aged eight, when her family had to flee.
She has not returned to lessons since.
Now the teenager and other young people are counting on the elections to bring them peace, education and opportunities beyond life as displaced persons.
The last polls were in 2020 but lack of security meant even those old enough to vote at the time were unable to do so.
There is a crowd outside the community radio station in the Korsi neighborhood of Birao, which serves as a distribution center for voter registration cards.
Marina Hajjram, also 18, will be voting for the first time.
“I’m so happy,” she told AFP, clutching her voter card.
Behind her in the queue, 25-year-old Issa Abdoul agreed the elections were essential “to continue the reconstruction of our country.”
Korsi is home to thousands of internally displaced persons, as well as many refugees from neighboring Sudan.
Across CAR, there were 416,000 internally displaced persons as of November, the vast majority of whom are under 25 and will be voting for the first time this weekend.
- A brighter future -
For them, the mere act of obtaining a voter registration card is a challenge.
First they must produce an identity document. But many lost everything when they fled, including ID papers for those who had them.
Three quarters of people in the CAR are under 35, according to a 2018 report by the United Nations Population Fund.
And peace is one of the things these young people most want.
Although the situation has improved in much of the country, particularly in cities, violence persists in the northeast on the border between the two Sudans.
This is mainly due to incursions by Sudanese armed forces, who are waging war in a region already plagued by abuses blamed on rebel groups.
Issene Abdoulkasim, 23, only made it to the third year of primary school.
Now he wants to become a tailor so he can afford to study again.
“I dream of studying so I can become a member of parliament. Because as an MP I’ll be able to bring peace and development,” he said.
“I want to put an end to conflicts, tensions and everything that is destroying our country.”
In this northern part of the country, on the edge of the Sahel, the sun is scorching and sand is swallowing the last traces of vegetation.
The 18-year-old adjusted a pink scarf covering her head and shoulders and pondered what she wanted from Sunday’s general election that will choose local and regional officials, members of parliament and a new president.
“I hope the person I vote for brings peace,” she said of the seven candidates vying to become head of state.
They include President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who is seeking a third consecutive term.
Displaced by decades of conflict, young people like Abdramane who live in camps around the town of Birao in the far northeast, see the elections as a chance for a better future.
Abdramane fled ethnic violence in El-Sisi, her home village seven kilometers (four miles) from Birao, in 2015 with her mother and eight siblings.
Her father had been killed a few months earlier.
“I just want my brothers, sisters and me to be able to go to school,” she said.
- First-time voters -
Abdramane had just completed her second year of school, aged eight, when her family had to flee.
She has not returned to lessons since.
Now the teenager and other young people are counting on the elections to bring them peace, education and opportunities beyond life as displaced persons.
The last polls were in 2020 but lack of security meant even those old enough to vote at the time were unable to do so.
There is a crowd outside the community radio station in the Korsi neighborhood of Birao, which serves as a distribution center for voter registration cards.
Marina Hajjram, also 18, will be voting for the first time.
“I’m so happy,” she told AFP, clutching her voter card.
Behind her in the queue, 25-year-old Issa Abdoul agreed the elections were essential “to continue the reconstruction of our country.”
Korsi is home to thousands of internally displaced persons, as well as many refugees from neighboring Sudan.
Across CAR, there were 416,000 internally displaced persons as of November, the vast majority of whom are under 25 and will be voting for the first time this weekend.
- A brighter future -
For them, the mere act of obtaining a voter registration card is a challenge.
First they must produce an identity document. But many lost everything when they fled, including ID papers for those who had them.
Three quarters of people in the CAR are under 35, according to a 2018 report by the United Nations Population Fund.
And peace is one of the things these young people most want.
Although the situation has improved in much of the country, particularly in cities, violence persists in the northeast on the border between the two Sudans.
This is mainly due to incursions by Sudanese armed forces, who are waging war in a region already plagued by abuses blamed on rebel groups.
Issene Abdoulkasim, 23, only made it to the third year of primary school.
Now he wants to become a tailor so he can afford to study again.
“I dream of studying so I can become a member of parliament. Because as an MP I’ll be able to bring peace and development,” he said.
“I want to put an end to conflicts, tensions and everything that is destroying our country.”
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