Gujarat: Tension has gripped parts of Gujarat after reports that seven men from the low-caste Dalit community had attempted suicide.
The men tried to take their own lives to protest against last week’s thrashing of four Dalit men by so-called ‘Gau Rakshaks’ (cow protectors) for skinning of a dead cow. According to police, the low-caste workers brought the cow for skinning after it had died naturally.
The excesses of these cow-protectors are on the rise since the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) led Hindutva government has come to power in the sub-continent.
Last year, a Muslim man was lynched by a violent mob that attacked his house over allegations that his family had been storing and consuming beef at home in northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
There have several other attacks across Indian subcontinent where Muslims have been accused of eating or smuggling beef.
The so-called gau-rakshaks beat up seven Dalits badly in Una, around 360 km from Ahmedabad for skinning a dead cow.
As per media reports after a video of the assault was released on the Internet, eight attackers were identified and arrested.
Notably, the attackers made a video of incident that was later posted over the social media. In this video Dalit men are seen tied us and being beaten up badly by several members of the gau-rakshak gang. They were later tied to a car and were rallied through the city. After the video went viral, the Dalits started protesting. They have announced to stop disposing the dead cows and declared that who consider the cow as their mothers, may themselves start disposing the dead cows.