Ekip
24 April 2017•Update: 24 April 2017
By Zahid Rafiq
SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir
Police arrested 11 members of a Hindu vigilante group on Monday who attacked a Muslim nomadic family, including a 9-year-old girl for keeping cows in their livestock in Jammu and Kashmir.
Videos of the so called cow-protection group attacking the family with iron rods emerged online on Sunday. The attackers could be heard raising slogans praising Hindu gods and India.
The viral video also showed the family had sought help from policemen at a checkpoint in Reasi district, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Jammu city on Friday night; however, the attackers continued to beat them under their watch.
The group also reportedly stole the family’s livestock, which included cattle and 16 cows.
A 75-year-old man Sabir Ali was among those hospitalized with multiple fractures.
Police filed a case into the attack only after news of it spread.
“Eleven people were arrested yesterday [Sunday] for the assault and the cows were reportedly found. The attackers were booked for lesser, bailable charges until the videos of their attack surfaced,” Tahir Bhat, a senior police official in Reasi, was quoted as saying by the Indian channel, NDTV, on Monday.
Police also charged the victims with “transporting cattle without permission”; apparently, the injured nomads were roaming around with 16 cows while they only had permission for four.
Recently, several reports of so-called cow protection groups have emerged who have been spreading terror among the minority Muslim community across northern India. Some Muslims have been murdered and attacked in such cases over allegations of eating beef or transporting cows.
Cows are considered sacred in Hindu religion.
In 2015, a Muslim man Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched over rumors of having a pound of beef in his home, and earlier this year, another Muslim man, Pehlu Khan, was killed and his associates seriously wounded while they were transporting cows.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
The two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir.
Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.
More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region.
