“Government is not listening to us. Till all the accused are not arrested and punished how we can get justice?” Ilyas, uncle of Umar asked.
Ghazanfar Abbas, IndiaTomorrow.net
New Delhi, Nov 21: Seeking justice in the case of killing of dairy farmer Umar Khan allegedly by gau-rakshaks (cow vigilantes) in Rajasthan’s Alwar, his family demanded the arrest of all culprits in the case. They also urged state’s BJP government led by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to remove the cases filed against the victims.
“Government is not listening to us. Till all the accused are not arrested and punished how we can get justice? Lodging cases of cow smuggling against our people is injustice and these cases should be closed,” Ilyas, uncle of Umar said while narrating the incident of Umar’s killing to media at press club, New Delhi.
“Our demand is to give Rs 50 lakh compensation to Umar’s family, job to his one son and 25 lakh for Tahir and Javed,” he demanded.
Reportedly, on Friday (Nov 10) early morning, Umar Khan, 35, along with two of his aides Tahir Khan, 42 and Javed Khan 28, were allegedly attacked by some 7-8 gau-rakshaks armed with guns near Fahari village in Gobindgarh. All three were allegedly stopped and attacked when they were transporting cows and calves in a pick-up truck for dairy farming from Mewat in Haryana to Bharatpur in the state. Umar died on the spot in the firing while the other sustained bullet injuries.
The police found dismembered body of Umar on the railway tracks reportedly about 15 kilometers from the truck. All three victims hail from Ghatmika village of Bharatpur and belong to Meo community.
First FIR was lodged in the case by Rajasthan Police under “The Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, against Umar and his fellow travelers allegedly for cow smuggling on same day of incident. Another FIR was lodged on 12th November under IPC section 302 (murder), section 307 (attempt to murder), 201 (causing the disappearance of evidence of offense or giving false information to screen offender) following a complaint by Umar’s family members.
Since then the Rajasthan police have arrested two accused named Ramveer Gurjar and Bhagwan Gurjar. Later on police also arrested Tahir and Javed who are still in police custody.
Speaking to media Tahir’s elder brother Abdul Wahid grievingly said, “We got beheaded body of Umar when we reached Alwar mortuary. And Police filed a case of cow smuggling against these three. Police is doing atrocity. Despite victims and injured police arrested Tahir and Javed and have not released them yet. Now after arresting of Tahir and Javed we are in doubt of getting justice.”
“All the culprits should be arrested. We urge government for justice,” Abdul urged.
They were speaking at the Public meeting and press conference was called by some social activists including Banojyotsna Lahiri and Nadeem Khan who are the members of “United Against Hate”. Team also demanded the regination of Rajasthan home minister Gulab Singh Kataria. Qasim, elder brother of Junaid Khan who was killed in a running train in June, also spoke on the occasion.
Travesty of Justice
Speaking to IndiaTomorrow.net, Kavita Srivastava, state president of PUCL (People’s Union for Civil Liberties) Rajasthan condemned the arrest of Javed and Tahir.
“Tahir and Javed both are victims in this brutal attack in which Umar Khan was killed and his body mutilated that shows a complete desire to destroy the evidence. Tahir Himself suffered grave injuries. Therefore a case was registered under section 307. Javed is also an eye witness to the murder. Their arrest is simply to bargain to release the accused who were caught and to dilute the case. It is a travesty of justice to have arrested these two (Tahir and Javed) instead the police should have been pursuing the other folks,” Srivastava said.
“We are definitely going to demand the closure of this case,” she added.
“It further establishes that the government of Rajasthan is hand in gloves and is clearly protecting the so called gau-rakshaks who are basically goons,” she said.
Cow Vigilantes spreading terror, Media need to speak out
Some veteran journalists who participated in the public meeting said that in the name of cow protection a kind of terrorism is being spread by the self-styled cow vigilantes patronized by the state.
“This kind of Gau-Raksha is a kind of terrorism. Calling such Gau-Rakshaks just goons is not fair. They are terrorists indeed,” senior journalist Urmilesh Urmil said.
Criticizing a section of media he said, “Media is very careless while choosing its vocabulary and definitions. Media call them Gau-Rakshak dal because some organized groups have called them so. Media is hesitating to call them Gau-Gunda or Gau Atanki. And then they call themselves independent media.”
“In media many say that journalists should neutral. Calling journalism neutral is insult of journalism. Journalism can be objective or factual but can’t be neutral. So, at a time when humanity is under threat media need to end this concept of neutrality,” he said.
“Though communal attacks were also existed before 2014 but it is obvious that after 2014 all these acts have been shaped in an organized way and given patronage from the state. Dalits, minorities and Tribals all are under attack now. If they are attacking in an organized way we also have to resist in organized way,” he averred.
Hartosh Singh Bal, political editor of The Caravan magazine said: “terrorism is being spread in the name of cow. We have been seeing this across the country. There is nexus behind these attacks and such attacks are not just on particular community, it has a larger impact.
Another senior journalist Anil Chamadia said, “Cow is just an excuse, they are working to divide the country. Recently a woman Jyoti Thakur wrote a letter to Chief Minster and Prime Minister that her cow is ill and she wants to carry her cow for treatment but she is scared. Such kind of atmosphere has been created.”
Besides them Secretary General of Jamaat e Islami Hind, Salim Engineer also addressed the gathering.
“Such criminals are openly committing these heinous crimes as they know they will not be punished. So, the issue is not just the criminals should be punished but those who are protecting them must also be punished,” Salim averred.
“These attacks are not just on Muslims but an attack on India. India is a composite heritage of people belonging to different faiths who collectively sacrificed themselves for the freedom of the country. This unity is the treat for these fascist forces. That is why they want to divide us,” he said.
